As far as marketing hype goes, I think Funcom has done a pretty outstanding job. Of course the game will stand or fall on its own merits after Tuesday but judging from the beta vs. things like EQs original beta, or lately Vanguard's I'd have to say the product looks more than viable.
As for the "sold out" pre-orders, if you are not in the early access program, I'd suggest checking with your local retailers again. I walked into Game Stop this week and the manager rooted around in one of the drawers and pulled out a pre-reg card for me. I don't think it's impossible to get in still unless they've shut down the site that takes your $5 (If I had a site that does nothing but take $5 from people, I'd be hard press to shut that puppy off - I'd take your money right up until 11:59pm on Monday night!)
*** I stand corrected. The early access is no longer available. ***
I would like to see the numbers as well for the early access program. I expected the CE edition to sell out like in all other games but it def does not say on ebgames site that access is limited.
only number stated for Early Access was " tens of thousands", obscure numbers FTL
As far as marketing hype goes, I think Funcom has done a pretty outstanding job. Of course the game will stand or fall on its own merits after Tuesday but judging from the beta vs. things like EQs original beta, or lately Vanguard's I'd have to say the product looks more than viable. As for the "sold out" pre-orders, if you are not in the early access program, I'd suggest checking with your local retailers again. I walked into Game Stop this week and the manager rooted around in one of the drawers and pulled out a pre-reg card for me. I don't think it's impossible to get in still unless they've shut down the site that takes your $5 (If I had a site that does nothing but take $5 from people, I'd be hard press to shut that puppy off - I'd take your money right up until 11:59pm on Monday night!)
They have indeed shut off the link that takes your $5 to d/l the client.
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
AmazingAveryAge of Conan AdvocateMemberUncommonPosts: 7,188
Originally posted by fiontar
Originally posted by kikinchaz
Originally posted by Praetoriani
Originally posted by Teala
I wonder how many early access they allowed for? 500K? 250K? Anyone care to speculate?
Over ninethousand!
90% sure they mentioned somewhere they've had 1 million people sign up to it already which is pretty crazy.
I quote "Hurry though, because the Early Access is only available while supply lasts!" - there you have it folks. If you havent yet recieved your code and therefore couldnt purchase Early Access you should be blaming the retailer not Funcom.
No. Over the past three years or so, they had a million people sign up for beta.
The only thing that number means is that at at least one point over the last three years, there has been enough interest to spawn a million beta applications.
It also means that as many as 950,000 potential customers who applied never got a beta invite and if they still had any interest in the game as of last month, they saw Open Beta go to Fileplanet instead of them.
In short, that number means absolutely nothing other than to show that there was a potential audience for the game. How much of that potential Funcom is able to tap is completely up in the air.
Actually 1 million beta sign up since April 2007, so a year
That potential audience is still there for a game, but you cant really have a beta with 1 million people in it.
Hmmm. Well the back of the box that i purchased from Best Buy and i assume Funcom Had made and distributed says 3 Day Early Access: begin creating your character(s) and start playing up to 3 days before the release of the game.(note: requires internet connection, credit card, and $5 download fee). I dont see anything that says you may not get early access so as far as i see it Funcom is the misleading party here not the retailer regardless as to what they may have on their website. They are distributing boxes that just scream false advertising and should honor the early access for the boxes they have in circulation.
If anyone pre-ordered online and they did not get their key and do in fact miss the early access, I would suggest going back to the website and cancelling your order if you feel strongly that you were wrongly informed about what you were purchasing. I think most reputable online retailers do not charge your card until the order is actually processed and shipped, and that should not be until after the weekend when they actually receive the product to ship. I have my pre-order sitting with gamestop.com right now. They said 24 hours to get a the key. If I do not get it in time to get into the early start, I will probably cancel and then think about whether I want to just get it at the store on Tuesday.
If you bought at a brick and mortar, do the same, I imagine they will refund even your down payment if you tell them that you were wrongly informed about what you were buying.
It's unfortunate that some of this miscommunication has happened, but don't feel like you are helpless in this situation. You do have the right to cancel your order, claim a full refund, and re-evaluate your decision to purchase.
I ordered two AoCs from Play.com on 8th May and had two concurrent order numbers. Received only one key and emailed them three times about it without any reply. Telephoned them and was assured the second key would be allocated in time. Reading about the problems other Play.com customers have had I emailed them again just now and finally had this reply:
I apologise that you did not recieve your second pre-order code.
Unfortuantely we have sent out all the codes we have been allocated.
We asked Funcom for more however they declined on the basis that today
they have stopped early access, so even if we were to get mroe codes
they would not work.
We cannot do anything further to get you another early access slot. As
such our hands are tied so any complaints should be directed to
Funcom.
Again i sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards -Play.com
As my contract is with Play.com then I feel any grievance over breach of contract is with them, however, Funcom have definitely underestimated the number of keys required by EA customers and if they are sensible should do something about it. This augurs badly on their behalf as if they are willing to let down their customers so soon during the EA part of their launch I wonder what plans they have should any problems arise when the main launch is under way?
Well, developers can you clarify the situation?
And by the way MMORPG.COM you are still advertising the availability of Early Access to the game on your site...
The pre-launch hype they've created is really quiet remarkable. Again, I really admire the marketing job they are doing creating a false sense of scarcity. Other publishers ought to sit up and take note. If 1 million is more or less correct then that's a $5 million pre-launch bonus baby, too! These guys are real capitalists.
Wow, this sucks, I pre ordered from Funcom and didn't get a key because "There is a delay in delivering at least one of your licence numbers. Please wait for a separate email including your missing license keys that we will send you as soon as possible." <- direct quote from my pre-order email. The only reason I pre ordered from Funcom is because of the run around I was getting from Play.com. I was prepared to pay more by going through Funcom because I was under the impression it would be quicker to get a key that way.
Now I can see why the was a "problem" lesson learned. I've cancelled my Funcom pre order through Funcom as I'm no longer prepared to pay more fro a game I can get cheaper else where. Ill just pick my copy up from a brick and mortar on launch day. I feel sorry for those who were planning to play on a PvP server, it will be Hell trying to level up when there are lvl 20's and 30's running around.
Ah well, such is life, no point crying about it now.
The waves are getting rather high on this subject and I understand completely that many players are not happy about the fact that Early Access is sold out as of today and I'm sorry about the misunderstanding and the confusion this has caused.
We did limit the maximum number of possible registrations for Early Access from the beginning so it wasn't a decision we took later. We knew that a specific number of players would be willing to take the offer and get 3 days earlier access to the game. That the registrations would reach that set limit as fast as they did we didn't quite expect but that doesn't change the fact that the number was limited.
The limit was set to make sure that registered players would have the chance to download the client and access the game servers 3 days prior to launch. With an unlimited amount of players, that would not be possible.
We do take your feedback on this issue very seriously and will be back with more information about this as soon as new facts are available.
there sure seems to be alot of crybabies for what is suppoesed to be an Adult game. We are only talking about three lousy days for pete sake. First thing I'm going to do when i log in to the game is find the ignore key. I'll probably be needing it.
Ah they'll be back when the reviews and word of mouth start hitting the streets. Too early still. Let people experience what I've experienced in closed beta. They'll be back only without the pre-order virtual items.
You can say QQ all you want, but the bottom line of the matter is that this situation is simply bad business. MMO audiences are notorious for not forgiving big screwups, and make no mistake; this is a HUGE screwup. Think about the people who wanted to play with their guild, and now will be three days behind. How many of them say "screw it" and simply wait till Warhammer? You can talk all you want about it only being three days, but if you have half a brain about MMOs you know that someone starting three days behind their friends will likely never catch up. Like it or not, MMOs are a race to max level, and for many people the most fun in an MMO is when the game is completely new and the entire server is leveling up together. To think that people won't buy the game because of "only three days" is not a stretch of the imagination by any means. Amazing that in such a competitve market a company is willing to straight up shoot themselves in the foot. Complete and utter foolishness if you ask me.
You can say QQ all you want, but the bottom line of the matter is that this situation is simply bad business. MMO audiences are notorious for not forgiving big screwups, and make no mistake; this is a HUGE screwup. Think about the people who wanted to play with their guild, and now will be three days behind. How many of them say "screw it" and simply wait till Warhammer? You can talk all you want about it only being three days, but if you have half a brain about MMOs you know that someone starting three days behind their friends will likely never catch up. Like it or not, MMOs are a race to max level, and for many people the most fun in an MMO is when the game is completely new and the entire server is leveling up together. To think that people won't buy the game because of "only three days" is not a stretch of the imagination by any means. Amazing that in such a competitve market a company is willing to straight up shoot themselves in the foot. Complete and utter foolishness if you ask me.
very true indeed.
My fondest memories are always the first few days to a week in a new MMO. Its not just a race to hit lvl cap but also a race to discover things about crafting, find interesting places, etc.
One thing that many are missing here is the names. Ive used the same two names for my avatars going back to Ultima. I still run across people 10 years later that ask 'hey so and so, any chance your the same dude from swg or ao or ultima, etc. Ive reunited with many players over the years because of this. Yet thanks to this screwup, I might not get my names that I so desire. If that happens, rest assured I wont be playing AoC
You can say QQ all you want, but the bottom line of the matter is that this situation is simply bad business. MMO audiences are notorious for not forgiving big screwups, and make no mistake; this is a HUGE screwup. Think about the people who wanted to play with their guild, and now will be three days behind. How many of them say "screw it" and simply wait till Warhammer? You can talk all you want about it only being three days, but if you have half a brain about MMOs you know that someone starting three days behind their friends will likely never catch up. Like it or not, MMOs are a race to max level, and for many people the most fun in an MMO is when the game is completely new and the entire server is leveling up together. To think that people won't buy the game because of "only three days" is not a stretch of the imagination by any means. Amazing that in such a competitve market a company is willing to straight up shoot themselves in the foot. Complete and utter foolishness if you ask me.
Sorry, but this was just plain rediculous. Three days and you cant catch up? Also, the pre-order cards/emails all said "Early Access Program," not "Early Access." This whining is one reason why i really don't like coming to these boards, too much complaining about the stupidest things, all of which have NO significance to anything in real life.
Comments
As far as marketing hype goes, I think Funcom has done a pretty outstanding job. Of course the game will stand or fall on its own merits after Tuesday but judging from the beta vs. things like EQs original beta, or lately Vanguard's I'd have to say the product looks more than viable.
As for the "sold out" pre-orders, if you are not in the early access program, I'd suggest checking with your local retailers again. I walked into Game Stop this week and the manager rooted around in one of the drawers and pulled out a pre-reg card for me. I don't think it's impossible to get in still unless they've shut down the site that takes your $5 (If I had a site that does nothing but take $5 from people, I'd be hard press to shut that puppy off - I'd take your money right up until 11:59pm on Monday night!)
*** I stand corrected. The early access is no longer available. ***
-- maybe 100k or less?
forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php
We had to set that limit to allow the tens of thousands of registered players to download the client and get access to the game on the 17th of May.
Oliver 'Tarib' Kunz
Senior Community Manager
EQ2 fan sites
They have indeed shut off the link that takes your $5 to d/l the client.
If someone had came up to me in 1980 when I was on my Atari 2600 and said we will be playing games with thousands of people at the same time.I guess my response would have been,"but I only have 2 joysticks"
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/235780/page/8
Over ninethousand!
90% sure they mentioned somewhere they've had 1 million people sign up to it already which is pretty crazy.
I quote "Hurry though, because the Early Access is only available while supply lasts!" - there you have it folks. If you havent yet recieved your code and therefore couldnt purchase Early Access you should be blaming the retailer not Funcom.
No. Over the past three years or so, they had a million people sign up for beta.The only thing that number means is that at at least one point over the last three years, there has been enough interest to spawn a million beta applications.
It also means that as many as 950,000 potential customers who applied never got a beta invite and if they still had any interest in the game as of last month, they saw Open Beta go to Fileplanet instead of them.
In short, that number means absolutely nothing other than to show that there was a potential audience for the game. How much of that potential Funcom is able to tap is completely up in the air.
Actually 1 million beta sign up since April 2007, so a year
That potential audience is still there for a game, but you cant really have a beta with 1 million people in it.
Hmmm. Well the back of the box that i purchased from Best Buy and i assume Funcom Had made and distributed says 3 Day Early Access: begin creating your character(s) and start playing up to 3 days before the release of the game.(note: requires internet connection, credit card, and $5 download fee). I dont see anything that says you may not get early access so as far as i see it Funcom is the misleading party here not the retailer regardless as to what they may have on their website. They are distributing boxes that just scream false advertising and should honor the early access for the boxes they have in circulation.
If anyone pre-ordered online and they did not get their key and do in fact miss the early access, I would suggest going back to the website and cancelling your order if you feel strongly that you were wrongly informed about what you were purchasing. I think most reputable online retailers do not charge your card until the order is actually processed and shipped, and that should not be until after the weekend when they actually receive the product to ship. I have my pre-order sitting with gamestop.com right now. They said 24 hours to get a the key. If I do not get it in time to get into the early start, I will probably cancel and then think about whether I want to just get it at the store on Tuesday.
If you bought at a brick and mortar, do the same, I imagine they will refund even your down payment if you tell them that you were wrongly informed about what you were buying.
It's unfortunate that some of this miscommunication has happened, but don't feel like you are helpless in this situation. You do have the right to cancel your order, claim a full refund, and re-evaluate your decision to purchase.
I ordered two AoCs from Play.com on 8th May and had two concurrent order numbers. Received only one key and emailed them three times about it without any reply. Telephoned them and was assured the second key would be allocated in time. Reading about the problems other Play.com customers have had I emailed them again just now and finally had this reply:
I apologise that you did not recieve your second pre-order code.
Unfortuantely we have sent out all the codes we have been allocated.
We asked Funcom for more however they declined on the basis that today
they have stopped early access, so even if we were to get mroe codes
they would not work.
We cannot do anything further to get you another early access slot. As
such our hands are tied so any complaints should be directed to
Funcom.
Again i sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards -Play.com
As my contract is with Play.com then I feel any grievance over breach of contract is with them, however, Funcom have definitely underestimated the number of keys required by EA customers and if they are sensible should do something about it. This augurs badly on their behalf as if they are willing to let down their customers so soon during the EA part of their launch I wonder what plans they have should any problems arise when the main launch is under way?
Well, developers can you clarify the situation?
And by the way MMORPG.COM you are still advertising the availability of Early Access to the game on your site...
The pre-launch hype they've created is really quiet remarkable. Again, I really admire the marketing job they are doing creating a false sense of scarcity. Other publishers ought to sit up and take note. If 1 million is more or less correct then that's a $5 million pre-launch bonus baby, too! These guys are real capitalists.
Wow, this sucks, I pre ordered from Funcom and didn't get a key because "There is a delay in delivering at least one of your licence numbers. Please wait for a separate email including your missing license keys that we will send you as soon as possible." <- direct quote from my pre-order email. The only reason I pre ordered from Funcom is because of the run around I was getting from Play.com. I was prepared to pay more by going through Funcom because I was under the impression it would be quicker to get a key that way.
Now I can see why the was a "problem" lesson learned. I've cancelled my Funcom pre order through Funcom as I'm no longer prepared to pay more fro a game I can get cheaper else where. Ill just pick my copy up from a brick and mortar on launch day. I feel sorry for those who were planning to play on a PvP server, it will be Hell trying to level up when there are lvl 20's and 30's running around.
Ah well, such is life, no point crying about it now.
forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php
UPDATE:
The waves are getting rather high on this subject and I understand completely that many players are not happy about the fact that Early Access is sold out as of today and I'm sorry about the misunderstanding and the confusion this has caused.
We did limit the maximum number of possible registrations for Early Access from the beginning so it wasn't a decision we took later. We knew that a specific number of players would be willing to take the offer and get 3 days earlier access to the game. That the registrations would reach that set limit as fast as they did we didn't quite expect but that doesn't change the fact that the number was limited.
The limit was set to make sure that registered players would have the chance to download the client and access the game servers 3 days prior to launch. With an unlimited amount of players, that would not be possible.
We do take your feedback on this issue very seriously and will be back with more information about this as soon as new facts are available.
Thanks for your support and understanding.
Oliver 'Tarib' Kunz
Senior Community Manager
EQ2 fan sites
Dear Customer,
Thank you for contacting us.
In response to your request we have cancelled your order #
40805132252####
Oh well
this has to be the biggest pre-release screwup ever
a lesson in how to rid yourself of paying customers without getting any of thier money.
lol
What sort of useless update is that ....
I got the client five years ago but didn't get my key before it closed.
Heh gamestop charged me yesterday was a surprise.
"Negaholics are people who become addicted to negativity and self-doubt, they find fault in most things and never seem to be satisfied."
^MMORPG.com
i feel sorry for the people who got left out, but if you really wanted to play this game, don't let THREE DAYS influence the next 6 months.
there sure seems to be alot of crybabies for what is suppoesed to be an Adult game. We are only talking about three lousy days for pete sake. First thing I'm going to do when i log in to the game is find the ignore key. I'll probably be needing it.
Ah they'll be back when the reviews and word of mouth start hitting the streets. Too early still. Let people experience what I've experienced in closed beta. They'll be back only without the pre-order virtual items.
You can say QQ all you want, but the bottom line of the matter is that this situation is simply bad business. MMO audiences are notorious for not forgiving big screwups, and make no mistake; this is a HUGE screwup. Think about the people who wanted to play with their guild, and now will be three days behind. How many of them say "screw it" and simply wait till Warhammer? You can talk all you want about it only being three days, but if you have half a brain about MMOs you know that someone starting three days behind their friends will likely never catch up. Like it or not, MMOs are a race to max level, and for many people the most fun in an MMO is when the game is completely new and the entire server is leveling up together. To think that people won't buy the game because of "only three days" is not a stretch of the imagination by any means. Amazing that in such a competitve market a company is willing to straight up shoot themselves in the foot. Complete and utter foolishness if you ask me.
Gee, I sure am glad my pre-order and account setup worked flawlessly without a hitch. I don't have to hate Funcom and can enjoy my game!
------------------------------
'Cry Havoc, and Let Loose the Dogs of WARRRRR!!!'
and my friend who was lazy about his preorder code even got into the early access when I called and told him it was back open earlier.
very true indeed.
My fondest memories are always the first few days to a week in a new MMO. Its not just a race to hit lvl cap but also a race to discover things about crafting, find interesting places, etc.
One thing that many are missing here is the names. Ive used the same two names for my avatars going back to Ultima. I still run across people 10 years later that ask 'hey so and so, any chance your the same dude from swg or ao or ultima, etc. Ive reunited with many players over the years because of this. Yet thanks to this screwup, I might not get my names that I so desire. If that happens, rest assured I wont be playing AoC
I got in. Too bad you guys did not. AoC rocks. I will feel sorry for you but I will still have fun. I will tip my 40 to you while I am playing.
This is the MMO I have been waiting on since my first steps in EQ1.
Sorry, but this was just plain rediculous. Three days and you cant catch up? Also, the pre-order cards/emails all said "Early Access Program," not "Early Access." This whining is one reason why i really don't like coming to these boards, too much complaining about the stupidest things, all of which have NO significance to anything in real life.