the whole things reeks of the Shadowlands expansion for AO. They hadn't FINISHED the last three zones of the world, yet. They intentionally broke the quests to give access to those areas, while scrambling to finish them up, claiming that the quests were "bugged", or that the items required were rare drops. It took them over a year to actually finish it.
Haha yup and people here either do not know Funcom and there track record or they are playing the village idiotI played AO for 5.5 years off and on and I have seen how funcom handles there customers and there games and trust me neither is great they are VERY money hungry and constantly are lookin for ways to suck a few bucks out of ppl much like SOE.
And ya shadowlands quests sucks I remember being stuck in Ely forever because zones quests and quest items were not done but keep in mind the stunt they pulled with there next expansion Alien Invasion where they advertised player market cities all that it took them 5-6 months AFTER they sold us the expansion advertising player stores and markets to actually put them in the game.Be VERY wary of anything funcom puts out or promises is all I can say.
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Why would you care to level a character that high when you can't even keep them after it's all said and done?
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.
To test bugs, cause it was an open beta? duh? Most bugs are found in higher levels, because the dev staff is more focused on the early game, as that's where most people will be and make their judgement call on it
Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
the whole things reeks of the Shadowlands expansion for AO. They hadn't FINISHED the last three zones of the world, yet. They intentionally broke the quests to give access to those areas, while scrambling to finish them up, claiming that the quests were "bugged", or that the items required were rare drops. It took them over a year to actually finish it.
Haha yup and people here either do not know Funcom and there track record or they are playing the village idiotI played AO for 5.5 years off and on and I have seen how funcom handles there customers and there games and trust me neither is great they are VERY money hungry and constantly are lookin for ways to suck a few bucks out of ppl much like SOE.
And ya shadowlands quests sucks I remember being stuck in Ely forever because zones quests and quest items were not done but keep in mind the stunt they pulled with there next expansion Alien Invasion where they advertised player market cities all that it took them 5-6 months AFTER they sold us the expansion advertising player stores and markets to actually put them in the game.Be VERY wary of anything funcom puts out or promises is all I can say.
Man I almost forgot about the debacle of the player cities!!! What trash was that!!! Our clan waited for 2 months then we all quit and started playing simcity
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Why would you care to level a character that high when you can't even keep them after it's all said and done?
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.
To test bugs, cause it was an open beta? duh? Most bugs are found in higher levels, because the dev staff is more focused on the early game, as that's where most people will be and make their judgement call on it
Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
I was just being sarcastic in my last reply, not your fault you didn't catch it, I wasn't very clear about it.
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Why would you care to level a character that high when you can't even keep them after it's all said and done?
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.
To test bugs, cause it was an open beta? duh? Most bugs are found in higher levels, because the dev staff is more focused on the early game, as that's where most people will be and make their judgement call on it
Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
I was just being sarcastic in my last reply, not your fault you didn't catch it, I wasn't very clear about it.
Yea. Sarcasm and the internet don't go hand in hand for some reason =D
You guys do know that you aren't forced to stay in the newbie area right? You can stay there till 20, but you can leave it early if you wish. Just because your level is capped at 13 doesn't mean you are incapable of seeing other places.
oh - I was told you can't leave newbie area till lvl 15. Might be break of NDA tho. Stil that might explain why the lvl cap is 13 - but not 15 or even 14. If 14 its pretty obvious it was done just to prevent ppl to explore abit more...
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Why would you care to level a character that high when you can't even keep them after it's all said and done?
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
I didn't play alot on WOW beta. But I played it to test it - to test how I would like it and I liked it alot. I kept on playing to see how higher lvls would be playing. Playing first 10 -20 lvls in MMOs tell u absolutly nothing about long term gameplay. Things that look cool and exiting at first can become nightmares l8ter on.
Just giving ppl 13 lvls to find out what a game with 80 lvls is about... thats just poor. And its very obvious whats going on. Servers can not be tested for load with ppl at higher lvls ? Lol - do ppl really belive such a crap?
I think some of the beta and tech testers might be intrested in adding few words about stress testing.
It sounds very obvious Fucom is preventing players to talk about the +20 content at all. Why ? Think its just fair question to ask.
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Why would you care to level a character that high when you can't even keep them after it's all said and done?
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
I didn't play alot on WOW beta. But I played it to test it - to test how I would like it and I liked it alot. I kept on playing to see how higher lvls would be playing. Playing first 10 -20 lvls in MMOs tell u absolutly nothing about long term gameplay. Things that look cool and exiting at first can become nightmares l8ter on.
Just giving ppl 13 lvls to find out what a game with 80 lvls is about... thats just poor. And its very obvious whats going on. Servers can not be tested for load with ppl at higher lvls ? Lol - do ppl really belive such a crap?
I think some of the beta and tech testers might be intrested in adding few words about stress testing.
It sounds very obvious Fucom is preventing players to talk about the +20 content at all. Why ? Think its just fair question to ask.
If I'm not mistaken, didn't Turbine with Lord of the Rings Online capped everyone at 15 during Open Beta?
yes if i remember correctly it was 15, and forums had these same arguements too. always the same before releases no matter what happens
LOTRO =15 lvls of 50
AOC = 13 lvls of 80
Compare more ?
I've played first 15 lvls of LOTRO with 5 diffrent characters in free trial. Those lvls open up huge portion of the game including 3 diffrent questhub areas. Im right in saying that 1-20 in AOC is the starting area and was designed as solo content mostly ?
Are Funcom hiding the MMO part of the game for any reason ?
It's really just a stress test. I'm not a fanboi or anything but hell! Because a company doesn't let you have free peak at all of their game doesn't mean that it's not ready. GIve them a chance to succeed or fail. I don't think that we will see another Vanguard release. Or an AO release. But we all know that ALL releases have their bumps. There has never been a perfect one. The closest I can think of was with LOTRO. And they still hit roadbumps.
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
edit: I also think part of the problem is that players are not getting what they expect and it's throwing their reality compass off.
Players want to see a set development time, a date that is kept, an open beta where everyone and their mother is invited, unlimited content or at least enough so they don't max out during open beta and then launch.
What they are getting is a game that needed more time, has very specific beta testing schedules, the outsourcing of its beta which will only give the players limited view of the game.
Quite frankly the solution is so easy and simple that people can now take deep breaths and get on with their lives.
Don't play the game until the reviews.
see... like magic.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
It's really just a stress test. I'm not a fanboi or anything but hell! Because a company doesn't let you have free peak at all of their game doesn't mean that it's not ready. GIve them a chance to succeed or fail. I don't think that we will see another Vanguard release. Or an AO release. But we all know that ALL releases have their bumps. There has never been a perfect one. The closest I can think of was with LOTRO. And they still hit roadbumps.
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
This is what blood and nipples does to 14 year olds and 40 year olds alike. All praise the coming of AoC, the game that will beat WoW into the dirt with it's innovation.
Personally having such a low level cap concerns me but it's not the biggest problem they could have. If those 13 levels turn out to be terrible, and THEN on top of that the high levels are bugged, half-finished and unbalanced, then this game will fail and then probably pick up a bit after a year or so, just because of the above mentioned blood and nipples.
-------------------------------------- A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
The explination given .. from a dev that I saw was:
That part of your branching story-line starts after that pont. Thus they cut it off there.
There is still going to be a general beta server running that has full access to levels (aka testing high level stuff).
Just fileplanet invites aren't going to get to see any of that.
I dunno right or wrong.. don't really care. I think its a bit cheesy to have all these "member" promotions. MMO's used to have beta sign ups and that was how you got into any part of it.
I saw someone mention shadowlands.. I don't remember the high level part they mention. I do remember it had the same kinda invite system through fileplanet.
I'm going to play the game (already pre-ordered) and I'll form my personal opinion off of that.
Why? because I've found I don't agree with 9 out of 10 people on forums... which is odd cuz I tend to dislike about 9 out of 10 people I meet in MMO's today.
No offense to anyone in paticular.. Its just forums are.. each individuals point of view. Unfortunately many people try to sell you their point of view as fact.
/shrug
(no I don't agree with a few things funcom did in their beta system.. that however, isn't going to make the game good or bad. It just means I don't agree with a few things they did).
It's really just a stress test. I'm not a fanboi or anything but hell! Because a company doesn't let you have free peak at all of their game doesn't mean that it's not ready. GIve them a chance to succeed or fail. I don't think that we will see another Vanguard release. Or an AO release. But we all know that ALL releases have their bumps. There has never been a perfect one. The closest I can think of was with LOTRO. And they still hit roadbumps.
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
Tbh - I would love for AOC to rule the world cause WOW really deserves to take a huge fall now with how things are handeled from BLizzard. But... this is not the right way to do so.
Im not crying. Im here to point out to ppl that are looking around and dont know the history of some earlier MMO launches and also dont know the AO history - that maybe ... just maybe ppl should think for themselfs and figure out why things are beeing done like they are.
My bet is that Funcom is putting out all polished content they have at this point - with the PVP weekend and this "open/payed beta". This is all about marketing. It has nothing to do with gaming or paying custimors.
Originally posted by Sovrath Players want to see a set development time, a date that is kept, an open beta where everyone and their mother is invited, unlimited content or at least enough so they don't max out during open beta and then launch. What they are getting is a game that needed more time, has very specific beta testing schedules, the outsourcing of its beta which will only give the players limited view of the game.
Agreed, players demand release dates, and the firmer the better. It's need to know info. But what most players do not understand or accept is that betas are fluid. It's not just adding art or balancing features, it's trouble-shooting. And that is hard to nail down, especially when you are being innovative.
If the game is not ready, I'd like to know who set the May 20 release. When they last announced a ( last-minute) delay, why didn't they allow themselves a little more dev/polish time? Shouldn't they have pushed it back into Fall 2008?
Phew, I almost pay to fileplanet thinking I could test freely. Will stick to my plan and wait for reviews then.
U defently did right there. Thats for sure
This "open beta" is pretty obvious. You scratch my back and I sctratch urs. Gaming site gets more ppl paying them and instead are gonna promote the game with good review...
When will people get it. Beta is not a Demo or a FREE TRIAL. Beta suppose to help them out before launch on Technical Stuff. Not let the customer base try the game for free. Also this way they are giving you guys a bite of the cookie and not the whole cookie. Then this will make you buy it.
This is not true ...
Beta testers do the work for free, this means their paymant IS the free trail/demo of the Game. Why should I help the company for nothing ? YOu got to much free time?
ZOMG THE SKY IS FALLING lighten up people. It'll either be ready in May or it won't be. If it's not, we just gotta hope it's good enough to stick through the growing pains till it is ready. As long as the performance is good and the gameplay is fun I don't care if it has 1 bug or 1,000. They'll get fixed eventually.
I think we know it wont be ready. 13 lvls in open beta show us that. Now its more of a question how buggy it is. Rest is just specualtion on how much of the promised content will be in the launch. We know alot of it will be missing.
But like most are pointing out here. Thats nothing new in MMO genre that dev's lie to ppl about things. How tests are going.. how much content is ready .. If gamebreaking bugs or errors are still ingame.
PvE cities, PvP battle keeps, collision detection, real time combat (no click and go), spell weaving, DX10 graphics, original music. I'm sorry, what sucks again?
How many of those will be tested in open beta? Collision detection and real time combat ? Music u can find out on youtube. Hopefully DX10 graphics.
PVE cities - PVP battles - MMO content... big question. All key features for long term gameplay. Again. Wait for free trial or at least ask yourself why just 13 lvls.
This is a good post if ppl wanna find out what MMO marketing and scaming is about. Its time that the gamers say stop to unfinished games that need over 1 gb patching after release. THats simpy not acceptable.
How can you have "real-time" graphics when hardware and/or Internet limiations can't guarentee full "real-time" all the time. Wasn't spell weaving scrapped? Even if it wasn't, it's not the greatest thing ever. Music I do appreciate, so maybe I'll get the soundtrack when it comes out. All in all there's too much hype imo, and when people like this come out and say that the game might not be ready, everyone jumps him and beats him 'till they feel better. Cuz they defended the "greatest game that will change everything".
Never know people! I could be wrong, lol.
-------------------------------------- A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
When will people get it. Beta is not a Demo or a FREE TRIAL. Beta suppose to help them out before launch on Technical Stuff. Not let the customer base try the game for free. Also this way they are giving you guys a bite of the cookie and not the whole cookie. Then this will make you buy it.
yep. Open Beta is supposed to be testers volunteering to help the company stress test the game, and find last minute bugs. The testers are helping the game company in question. They NEED the testers to get the job done.
So paying for a chance to do so is fucked up.
All it takes is 2-5,000 players to fill up a server. Believe me they have been stress testing, and they will be this weekend. They aren't asking you to pay to help them. They are asking Fileplanet to host an Open Beta to allow you to play if you want, and they are not paying for it out of their own pockets. Thus Fileplanet is collecting the money for it.
I agree with WhargOul on the principle of 'pay2test' and I realize that what ProfRed has said about it not being Funcom asking people for money to take part in an OB.
So, this isn't about AoC or even just Funcom, for me. It concerns the entire industry.
The only acceptable pay2test OB method that has ever existed, is as a bonus offer during pre-order with all costs covered, in that pre-order commitment. No, third parties with their hands out for money, ...ever.
Afterall, If you plan to actually host an MMO, you should be able to handle the FTP servers for your own client downloads. <-- Again, talking industry wide here.
It's a shame that AoC, like many others, have gone this route and that I won't be taking part in the OB because of this. I believe that I'm known as a fan of this Ip and that has not changed. My pre-order is still going ahead because I've liked what've I've seen and I have hope for the games, overall, future(more hope than other MMO's have instilled in me).
I do have a fair CB/OB testing background in MMO's and SP's, since the mid 90's. As such, I'm(usualy) willing to help out a title(as best as I can) but I'm never going to pay to be a tester, other than the method that I've stated above.
I'll wait and get my chance to take in hyboria with the 3day headstart, instead. ...Yes, I realize there's an extra charge for the pre-launch client but it's not for the status as a tester. It will be for the status of full client with all the rights, priviledges and expectations that goes with being an end-line product consumer. ie - I get what I paid for and I either like it or I don't.
All the same, the involvement of third parties companies expecting you to pay them, aside. The game itself is what I'm sold on, see you then.
* Life is not black or white, it's shades of grey. But, at it's best/worst, it hints at 32bit color. -Me (a.k.a. RuthlessTimes)
* I do not need to know how to make a better game than you. I just need to know how to cancel my subscription. -Antarious(a slight misquote but the sentiment remains)
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by Alan0n
Open beta for 13 lvls.... What is the purpose of this beta ? I played WoW up to lvl 50 in open beta. I bought the game right away cause I couldn't wait to make my charcter and go through it again. So AOC with 80 lvls doesn't yet have content to allow open beta testers to play up to more than lvl 13 ? Does the game even have player made cities yet ? Or siege warfare? Or even working mounts ? Seriously - first lift of NDA and ppl can play 13 lvls... One word of advise. Stay away. Stay far away until we actually get any real reporst on whats going on. It can't be good if devs consider open beta to be 13 lvls of gameplay.
Please here is some advise you need to stop posting in this forum, you are getting yourself all worked up over nothing.
Best thing to do is come back after release and maybe you will have stopped dribbling.
AOC is not WOW, Funcom is not BLIZZARD.
12 classes to try all different in a new combat system up to level 13 (with slightly higher content) All in Tortage (Noob Island) So yes there is alot of instances and it will be very linear. So dont worry there will be alot of people posting that, that is all the game is.
Its not a free period where you play test everything out, its a sample, just like a preview at the movie theatre, except it lasts longer than 30 seconds.
When will people get it. Beta is not a Demo or a FREE TRIAL. Beta suppose to help them out before launch on Technical Stuff. Not let the customer base try the game for free. Also this way they are giving you guys a bite of the cookie and not the whole cookie. Then this will make you buy it.
yep. Open Beta is supposed to be testers volunteering to help the company stress test the game, and find last minute bugs. The testers are helping the game company in question. They NEED the testers to get the job done.
So paying for a chance to do so is fucked up.
All it takes is 2-5,000 players to fill up a server. Believe me they have been stress testing, and they will be this weekend. They aren't asking you to pay to help them. They are asking Fileplanet to host an Open Beta to allow you to play if you want, and they are not paying for it out of their own pockets. Thus Fileplanet is collecting the money for it.
I agree with WhargOul on the principle of 'pay2test' and I realize that what ProfRed has said about it not being Funcom asking people for money to take part in an OB.
So, this isn't about AoC or even just Funcom, for me. It concerns the entire industry.
The only acceptable pay2test OB method that has ever existed, is as a bonus offer during pre-order with all costs covered, in that pre-order commitment. No, third parties with their hands out for money, ...ever.
Afterall, If you plan to actually host an MMO, you should be able to handle the FTP servers for your own client downloads. <-- Again, talking industry wide here.
It's a shame that AoC, like many others, have gone this route and that I won't be taking part in the OB because of this. I believe that I'm known as a fan of this Ip and that has not changed. My pre-order is still going ahead because I've liked what've I've seen and I have hope for the games, overall, future(more hope than other MMO's have instilled in me).
I do have a fair CB/OB testing background in MMO's and SP's, since the mid 90's. As such, I'm(usualy) willing to help out a title(as best as I can) but I'm never going to pay to be a tester, other than the method that I've stated above.
I'll wait and get my chance to take in hyboria with the 3day headstart, instead. ...Yes, I realize there's an extra charge for the pre-launch client but it's not for the status as a tester. It will be for the status of full client with all the rights, priviledges and expectations that goes with being an end-line product consumer. ie - I get what I paid for and I either like it or I don't.
All the same, the involvement of third parties companies expecting you to pay them, aside. The game itself is what I'm sold on, see you then.
Indeed. I'll still be buying / playing the game, just not participating in the OB money-grab.
Comments
And ya shadowlands quests sucks I remember being stuck in Ely forever because zones quests and quest items were not done but keep in mind the stunt they pulled with there next expansion Alien Invasion where they advertised player market cities all that it took them 5-6 months AFTER they sold us the expansion advertising player stores and markets to actually put them in the game.Be VERY wary of anything funcom puts out or promises is all I can say.
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
And ya shadowlands quests sucks I remember being stuck in Ely forever because zones quests and quest items were not done but keep in mind the stunt they pulled with there next expansion Alien Invasion where they advertised player market cities all that it took them 5-6 months AFTER they sold us the expansion advertising player stores and markets to actually put them in the game.Be VERY wary of anything funcom puts out or promises is all I can say.
Man I almost forgot about the debacle of the player cities!!! What trash was that!!! Our clan waited for 2 months then we all quit and started playing simcity
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
I was just being sarcastic in my last reply, not your fault you didn't catch it, I wasn't very clear about it.
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
A) WoW was the biggest cheese to level in, even in beta you could hit cap in a few weeks, and open beta was out for awhile.Oh!!! So now all of a sudden OB is to test bugs and not a free trial? Silly me!!!
Er, open betas are seen as free hype and first time impressions, have been since daoc as far as I can remember. the other 2 points were just extra for you.
I was just being sarcastic in my last reply, not your fault you didn't catch it, I wasn't very clear about it.
Yea. Sarcasm and the internet don't go hand in hand for some reason =D
oh - I was told you can't leave newbie area till lvl 15. Might be break of NDA tho. Stil that might explain why the lvl cap is 13 - but not 15 or even 14. If 14 its pretty obvious it was done just to prevent ppl to explore abit more...
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
I didn't play alot on WOW beta. But I played it to test it - to test how I would like it and I liked it alot. I kept on playing to see how higher lvls would be playing. Playing first 10 -20 lvls in MMOs tell u absolutly nothing about long term gameplay. Things that look cool and exiting at first can become nightmares l8ter on.Just giving ppl 13 lvls to find out what a game with 80 lvls is about... thats just poor. And its very obvious whats going on. Servers can not be tested for load with ppl at higher lvls ? Lol - do ppl really belive such a crap?
I think some of the beta and tech testers might be intrested in adding few words about stress testing.
It sounds very obvious Fucom is preventing players to talk about the +20 content at all. Why ? Think its just fair question to ask.
That's just mind boggling to me and seems like a lot of wasted time.
I didn't play alot on WOW beta. But I played it to test it - to test how I would like it and I liked it alot. I kept on playing to see how higher lvls would be playing. Playing first 10 -20 lvls in MMOs tell u absolutly nothing about long term gameplay. Things that look cool and exiting at first can become nightmares l8ter on.Just giving ppl 13 lvls to find out what a game with 80 lvls is about... thats just poor. And its very obvious whats going on. Servers can not be tested for load with ppl at higher lvls ? Lol - do ppl really belive such a crap?
I think some of the beta and tech testers might be intrested in adding few words about stress testing.
It sounds very obvious Fucom is preventing players to talk about the +20 content at all. Why ? Think its just fair question to ask.
Toodles got banned for adding words on to why =/
yes if i remember correctly it was 15, and forums had these same arguements too. always the same before releases no matter what happens
LOTRO =15 lvls of 50AOC = 13 lvls of 80
Compare more ?
I've played first 15 lvls of LOTRO with 5 diffrent characters in free trial. Those lvls open up huge portion of the game including 3 diffrent questhub areas. Im right in saying that 1-20 in AOC is the starting area and was designed as solo content mostly ?
Are Funcom hiding the MMO part of the game for any reason ?
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
edit: I also think part of the problem is that players are not getting what they expect and it's throwing their reality compass off.
Players want to see a set development time, a date that is kept, an open beta where everyone and their mother is invited, unlimited content or at least enough so they don't max out during open beta and then launch.
What they are getting is a game that needed more time, has very specific beta testing schedules, the outsourcing of its beta which will only give the players limited view of the game.
Quite frankly the solution is so easy and simple that people can now take deep breaths and get on with their lives.
Don't play the game until the reviews.
see... like magic.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
This is what blood and nipples does to 14 year olds and 40 year olds alike. All praise the coming of AoC, the game that will beat WoW into the dirt with it's innovation.Personally having such a low level cap concerns me but it's not the biggest problem they could have. If those 13 levels turn out to be terrible, and THEN on top of that the high levels are bugged, half-finished and unbalanced, then this game will fail and then probably pick up a bit after a year or so, just because of the above mentioned blood and nipples.
--------------------------------------
A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
Order of the White Border.
The explination given .. from a dev that I saw was:
That part of your branching story-line starts after that pont. Thus they cut it off there.
There is still going to be a general beta server running that has full access to levels (aka testing high level stuff).
Just fileplanet invites aren't going to get to see any of that.
I dunno right or wrong.. don't really care. I think its a bit cheesy to have all these "member" promotions. MMO's used to have beta sign ups and that was how you got into any part of it.
I saw someone mention shadowlands.. I don't remember the high level part they mention. I do remember it had the same kinda invite system through fileplanet.
I'm going to play the game (already pre-ordered) and I'll form my personal opinion off of that.
Why? because I've found I don't agree with 9 out of 10 people on forums... which is odd cuz I tend to dislike about 9 out of 10 people I meet in MMO's today.
No offense to anyone in paticular.. Its just forums are.. each individuals point of view. Unfortunately many people try to sell you their point of view as fact.
/shrug
(no I don't agree with a few things funcom did in their beta system.. that however, isn't going to make the game good or bad. It just means I don't agree with a few things they did).
yeah the crying is amazing.
Be warned game companies, don't allow players any look at your game until it is finished because they revert to 10 years olds who don't get their way.
Until I actually play it I will withold judsgement. I think much of this boo hooing is from gamers who can't separate themselves from a game and what they want which is the "second coming" of some fictional next gen game that will never happen.
It's like they have worked themselves into a frenzy and just can't stop.
Does this mean that AoC will fail? Who knows, but quite frankly I can't take anyone's word any more except for a handful of posters on this site who are a bit more grounded in reality.
Should we actually listen to all this sky is falling stuff? Well, I've heard all of this compaining with other games only to try them and think "what the heck are they talking about, it's fine". LOTRO comes to mind.
I strongl suspect that if people can get over themselves, take a more measured approach to all of this and think of it as a game and nothing more, they will be much happier.
I don't see anything wrong with keeping things to lvl 13. Nothing. I strongly suspect that it's people who want free game time and who want their powergaming needs met that are now sitting in the corner, in the dark with the light from distant street lamps streaming through the shutters, wringing their hands while sweat trickles down their brows as they watch the download tick by one small mb at a time.
My god people, get hold of your selves. To be honest, there is no way AoC is going to meet all of your needs because quite frankly your sense of judgement is completely skewed.
Tbh - I would love for AOC to rule the world cause WOW really deserves to take a huge fall now with how things are handeled from BLizzard. But... this is not the right way to do so.Im not crying. Im here to point out to ppl that are looking around and dont know the history of some earlier MMO launches and also dont know the AO history - that maybe ... just maybe ppl should think for themselfs and figure out why things are beeing done like they are.
My bet is that Funcom is putting out all polished content they have at this point - with the PVP weekend and this "open/payed beta". This is all about marketing. It has nothing to do with gaming or paying custimors.
If the game is not ready, I'd like to know who set the May 20 release. When they last announced a ( last-minute) delay, why didn't they allow themselves a little more dev/polish time? Shouldn't they have pushed it back into Fall 2008?
Is it that critical to release AoC this summer?
Phew, I almost pay to fileplanet thinking I could test freely. Will stick to my plan and wait for reviews then.
ZOMG THE SKY IS FALLING
lighten up people.
It'll either be ready in May or it won't be. If it's not, we just gotta hope it's good enough to stick through the growing pains till it is ready.
As long as the performance is good and the gameplay is fun I don't care if it has 1 bug or 1,000.
They'll get fixed eventually.
This "open beta" is pretty obvious. You scratch my back and I sctratch urs. Gaming site gets more ppl paying them and instead are gonna promote the game with good review...
Beta testers do the work for free, this means their paymant IS the free trail/demo of the Game. Why should I help the company for nothing ? YOu got to much free time?
But like most are pointing out here. Thats nothing new in MMO genre that dev's lie to ppl about things. How tests are going.. how much content is ready .. If gamebreaking bugs or errors are still ingame.
How many of those will be tested in open beta? Collision detection and real time combat ? Music u can find out on youtube. Hopefully DX10 graphics.
PVE cities - PVP battles - MMO content... big question. All key features for long term gameplay. Again. Wait for free trial or at least ask yourself why just 13 lvls.
This is a good post if ppl wanna find out what MMO marketing and scaming is about. Its time that the gamers say stop to unfinished games that need over 1 gb patching after release. THats simpy not acceptable.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/37720
How can you have "real-time" graphics when hardware and/or Internet limiations can't guarentee full "real-time" all the time. Wasn't spell weaving scrapped? Even if it wasn't, it's not the greatest thing ever. Music I do appreciate, so maybe I'll get the soundtrack when it comes out. All in all there's too much hype imo, and when people like this come out and say that the game might not be ready, everyone jumps him and beats him 'till they feel better. Cuz they defended the "greatest game that will change everything".
Never know people! I could be wrong, lol.
--------------------------------------
A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
Order of the White Border.
So paying for a chance to do so is fucked up.
All it takes is 2-5,000 players to fill up a server. Believe me they have been stress testing, and they will be this weekend. They aren't asking you to pay to help them. They are asking Fileplanet to host an Open Beta to allow you to play if you want, and they are not paying for it out of their own pockets. Thus Fileplanet is collecting the money for it.
I agree with WhargOul on the principle of 'pay2test' and I realize that what ProfRed has said about it not being Funcom asking people for money to take part in an OB.
So, this isn't about AoC or even just Funcom, for me. It concerns the entire industry.
The only acceptable pay2test OB method that has ever existed, is as a bonus offer during pre-order with all costs covered, in that pre-order commitment. No, third parties with their hands out for money, ...ever.
Afterall, If you plan to actually host an MMO, you should be able to handle the FTP servers for your own client downloads. <-- Again, talking industry wide here.
It's a shame that AoC, like many others, have gone this route and that I won't be taking part in the OB because of this. I believe that I'm known as a fan of this Ip and that has not changed. My pre-order is still going ahead because I've liked what've I've seen and I have hope for the games, overall, future(more hope than other MMO's have instilled in me).
I do have a fair CB/OB testing background in MMO's and SP's, since the mid 90's. As such, I'm(usualy) willing to help out a title(as best as I can) but I'm never going to pay to be a tester, other than the method that I've stated above.
I'll wait and get my chance to take in hyboria with the 3day headstart, instead. ...Yes, I realize there's an extra charge for the pre-launch client but it's not for the status as a tester. It will be for the status of full client with all the rights, priviledges and expectations that goes with being an end-line product consumer. ie - I get what I paid for and I either like it or I don't.
All the same, the involvement of third parties companies expecting you to pay them, aside. The game itself is what I'm sold on, see you then.
* Life is not black or white, it's shades of grey. But, at it's best/worst, it hints at 32bit color. -Me (a.k.a. RuthlessTimes)
* I do not need to know how to make a better game than you. I just need to know how to cancel my subscription. -Antarious(a slight misquote but the sentiment remains)
Best thing to do is come back after release and maybe you will have stopped dribbling.
AOC is not WOW, Funcom is not BLIZZARD.
12 classes to try all different in a new combat system up to level 13 (with slightly higher content) All in Tortage (Noob Island) So yes there is alot of instances and it will be very linear. So dont worry there will be alot of people posting that, that is all the game is.
Its not a free period where you play test everything out, its a sample, just like a preview at the movie theatre, except it lasts longer than 30 seconds.
It has everything you have said.
So paying for a chance to do so is fucked up.
All it takes is 2-5,000 players to fill up a server. Believe me they have been stress testing, and they will be this weekend. They aren't asking you to pay to help them. They are asking Fileplanet to host an Open Beta to allow you to play if you want, and they are not paying for it out of their own pockets. Thus Fileplanet is collecting the money for it.
I agree with WhargOul on the principle of 'pay2test' and I realize that what ProfRed has said about it not being Funcom asking people for money to take part in an OB.
So, this isn't about AoC or even just Funcom, for me. It concerns the entire industry.
The only acceptable pay2test OB method that has ever existed, is as a bonus offer during pre-order with all costs covered, in that pre-order commitment. No, third parties with their hands out for money, ...ever.
Afterall, If you plan to actually host an MMO, you should be able to handle the FTP servers for your own client downloads. <-- Again, talking industry wide here.
It's a shame that AoC, like many others, have gone this route and that I won't be taking part in the OB because of this. I believe that I'm known as a fan of this Ip and that has not changed. My pre-order is still going ahead because I've liked what've I've seen and I have hope for the games, overall, future(more hope than other MMO's have instilled in me).
I do have a fair CB/OB testing background in MMO's and SP's, since the mid 90's. As such, I'm(usualy) willing to help out a title(as best as I can) but I'm never going to pay to be a tester, other than the method that I've stated above.
I'll wait and get my chance to take in hyboria with the 3day headstart, instead. ...Yes, I realize there's an extra charge for the pre-launch client but it's not for the status as a tester. It will be for the status of full client with all the rights, priviledges and expectations that goes with being an end-line product consumer. ie - I get what I paid for and I either like it or I don't.
All the same, the involvement of third parties companies expecting you to pay them, aside. The game itself is what I'm sold on, see you then.
Indeed. I'll still be buying / playing the game, just not participating in the OB money-grab.