Originally posted by todeswulf

I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them.  

That's why I would never dream of game design as a career.  Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life.

Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.

 

That being said, I don't think you have to be a professional to question other trades.  What people have said is valid, it seems inconsistent to say that we can handle 600K subscribers day 1, but can't handle 50,000 people downloading the game.

What's strange is that they addressed it all.  The answer from the dev actually make the whole thing look worse.  Sometimes a 'no comment', and letting the product speak for itself is the best policy.

Originally posted by devacore

So the children are all upset they have to pay for a membership.  Don't worry mommy will pay for it, if you cry and whine a bit.

So speakth the troll. . .

Originally posted by andmiller

Originally posted by todeswulf

I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them.  

That's why I would never dream of game design as a career.  Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life.

Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.

 

  Sometimes a 'no comment', and letting the product speak for itself is the best policy.

 

Isn't that the case and come judgment day it will.

Summary of what I got out of it.

Sorry, we should have said "FilePlanet Beta" and not "Open Beta". It won't happen again. Also, the FilePlanet Beta will only allow you to get to level 13 because we feel it serves our needs and at the same time gives the players a taste of what the game has to offer without giving away a cool part of the story.

IMO, nbd. All games are a crap shoot. Beta rarely lets you do more than get a feel for the game anyway.

This is such a stupid non-issue that players have made into some kind of soap opera. The only people complaining about this are those that think a beta of any kind is really just a trial, like they owe you somthing. When its not.

  Be warned, most future open betas are going to be just like this. So get the crying out now, it’s not going to change.

 Right now, I am more concerned with how the beta is going. Are the people involved actually testing the game, or is it the same retards that get into every beta for the last couple of years and not fill out one bug report unless it is to say thier favorite class is too weak, or this skill sucks, etc....

  I don't care how people get into beta as long as the test the fricking game. I am so fed up with the pissing and moaning of the stupid things like, fileplanet beta, Fileplanet has been doing beta giveaways longer then half of you have been playing these games.

 I disagree with the game designer making excuses for why they used Fileplanet, it only made Funcom sound like a bunch of incompetents, when my 13 year old daughter can upload 30 gigs of movies and music to torrents in a few hours, then Funcom could handle a 13gb game client in the time they have been working on all of this.

 His excuse on not really wanting an open beta! yea! Focus on testing! don't focus on releasing the tard plague upon the lands of AoC just yet.  It will all come in good time. Right now focus on getting the game right, so it's not another failure like everything else that has been out.

 Pretty sad that with all the WoW haters I see making post, WoW is still one of the few lasting MMO's while the rest slowly perish. I say this, and I don't care for WoW

Originally posted by todeswulf

I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them.  

That's why I would never dream of game design as a career.  Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life.

Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.

 

2. I work implementing an ERP project with a budget of about $3 billion

3. The reason your company has 'cutbacks' is probably because it puts narrow-minded people like yourself in positions of authority.

Originally posted by Parliament

     The poor "Funcom" dev looks like hes about to have a nervous breakdown sitting next to the big boys...

Take it as you will... maybe hes just got really bad anxiety lol. You can just see the sweat rolling off him.

 www.tentonhammer.com/node/31053

 

Jeff Hickman really inspires me with confidence in his game, his entire attitude just makes me think he knows what he is doing. The guy from 38 Studio's seemed like the rookie (which he was) but I think 38 has some good foundation building going on. The funcom guy did scare me though, it was like he wasn't sure what to say.

The five dollars a month isn't a significant factor for me.

 What stops me from using FilePlanet is a history over the years that has led me to believe that FilePlanet and Gamespy load my system up with tracking software without my consent. It is my loss, and I believe FunCom's loss, and certainly Gamespy and FilePlanet's loss of my business, that I no longer trust these companies to respect both my information and other property rights to the point where I refuse to use them wherever possible.

Consequently any beta that uses these companies for their file distribution will not have me as a participant. Its their business decision to use these services, its my cause-based decision to not use these services.

Originally posted by todeswulf

I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them.  

That's why I would never dream of game design as a career.  Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life.

Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.

 

interesting viewpoint to say the least with some color of truth im sure. but not all those who question decisions made by game companies are lard asses, live in their mom's basement, and work at pizza hut.

me for example im quite fit lol(toots his own horn) have my own 2 bed room apartment in manhattan, freelance for both a Production company, and a indie game dev company. so I believe my "professional background" has some clout and credbility unlike some fry cooks. I ask certain questions or "highlight" certain anomalies within a individuals comments, on what they are doing and whether or not their behavior or comments are questionable at best.

i think its best to always question, never take things for face value. when something doesnt sit right to you, question it, but question it based ont he merits of the facts provided. The problem with this situation dealing with the beta, that if they can handle 600k, at launch (roughly 2weeks and 3 days) but werent willing to handle the initial 50k they could of provided "seeds" via torrents which would of solved the issue with possible download issue. whats that say? laziness? something deeper? inner conspiracy with FP to promote paying subbers? lol hardly im sure, but once agian another question to list.

in the end everything about this beta was suspicisous and makes people question the overall hype of the game. me I would of loved to test the game. but i wasnt going to pay FP in order to do so. it doesnt sit right with me as a consumer to pay for a unfinished product, that is like me buying a car that has no wheels. the manufacturers say theyll send the wheels at a later date when they are finished. either way the acts, behaviors, comments, and all were questionable at best and worth investigating or at least putting a maginfying glass to scrutinize it.

From there, I asked Tharaldsen if there was any financial incentive at all in distributing the beta through Fileplanet and while, as stated above, he told us that the Conan beta was a needed expense to get feedback on the game, he did outline the benefits to choosing Fileplanet beyond their reliable download speed and prior relationship:

“We are just a few weeks away from launch, and when moving into the final push beta stage it’s important for any MMO to ensure a final push attention as well. In my experience most all MMOs these days use the last few weeks for a more marketing orientated beta process, and Fileplanet seems to be the #1 gaming site in that regards.

lol you should probably answer a question especially when it's going to be ripped to pieces by your 'fans' lol, and if you don't plan to answer it for any reason, you should atleast say as much so you don't seem to dodgy and tactful

seriously tho, i'll be playing this game on the 20th and hopefully loving it, but that interview seemed clipped and filtered, and if answers werent removed then Jorgen Tharaldsen isn't the right person to be doing interviews with websites even associated with players. Oh you're right jorgen tharaldsen, it is about launch attention, that is very true. Unfortunately your choice of how to get that launch attention seems questionable.

Personally I am just as glad to let other people beta test the game. I have pre-ordered, I'll get the three day head start, and as long as most of the bugs are ironed out by then I'll be happy as a clam. Yes, I would love to start playing the game now, but that's not the point of beta testing. Beta testing is a great big pain in the neck sometimes, if you are doing it right. This so called open beta is more of just a stress test and don't be shocked when on day one, when you all log in at the same time, the walls come crashing down. If it doesn't it would be the first in my expirience that didn't. You be lucky if you see the level 13 cap before the beta is over, as you'll be playing in maybe 2 or 3 hour windows while the devs and techs set about fixing whatever problems arise. Believe me it's not gonna be happy funtime I got to play before everyone else land.  Those of us who remember AC beta know that downtime is inevitable, and the frustration of being all jacked to play the game, yet not knowing when, or even sometimes if, the servers will open back up is worse than just waiting for the game to open to the public. While I am playing some other game to pass the time, the people in beta will be sitting staring at the message board or forum waiting with baited breath to be ready for the exact moment it opens back up. Then as you all rush in...it'll crash again. That's not saying anything bad about the game, it just is the way it is. Then you'll be mad and bitchy and say all kinds of things about how terrible the game is, even though what you are expiriencing isn't a true reflection of what the game will be like when they open up all the other servers that they have been holding back until release. Oh yes. I've been there. I was kinda hoping that with the mature rating we'd see less of this, but alas that doesn't seem to be the case.

Why are they going through Fileplanet for the beta? So that they can, at least somewhat, verify people's ages. Remember that this game, unlike many others before it, has a M rating, so they can't just let anyone download it. Everyone who is going to play this game when it releases is supposed to be an adult...so how about we start acting like it?

Not meaning any offense, and not pointing fingers, just saying what I feel needs to be said.

Let the people at Funcom do their job. For those of you who are in the beta, remember that you are there to help them, not criticize or nitpic.

What a bull. I stopt reading after that they justify charging for the beta. That they ask for OB well okay. But that they justify it with saying that "They never charged for the normal beta" is just plain stupid. Beta's are a cheap way for a company to find bugs. The PvP weekend was pure for promotion, and had NOTHING to do with a beta.

Funcom, way to go.

Originally posted by devacore

So the children are all upset they have to pay for a membership.  Don't worry mommy will pay for it, if you cry and whine a bit.

Looks like your mommy is already paying for it. Did I guess that it right? How much whining did you do?

Originally posted by grimfall

 

Originally posted by todeswulf

I feel for the guy, his team is busting there humps and the lard ass idiots that live in their Mom's basement and could not get a job beyond Pizza Hut actually are given the credibility to question them.  

That's why I would never dream of game design as a career.  Enterprise software designers work less hours make more money, and when they are called into question, it is from a professional...not some mouth breathing fry cook with no life.

Said it many times. Love games hate most gamers.

 

1. Very Mature Post

 

2. I work implementing an ERP project with a budget of about $3 billion

3. The reason your company has 'cutbacks' is probably because it puts narrow-minded people like yourself in positions of authority.

Well said Grimfall.

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

This is such a stupid non-issue that players have made into some kind of soap opera. The only people complaining about this are those that think a beta of any kind is really just a trial, like they owe you somthing. When its not.

  Be warned, most future open betas are going to be just like this. So get the crying out now, it’s not going to change.

- are a masochist;

- don't care;

- have no clue what the hell happened;

I don't see much whining going on here. In fact, most arguments presented here and on other forums are mature and meaningful.

Originally posted by cmcmaha

As one of the one hundred AoC Fileplanet Beta key winners, I have but one question.  Did I read the article correctly . . . 13 GB client?  Good Lord, it will take me a week to download that sucker!

Took me overnight with the Fileplanet downloader on a good cable modem connection.  And if you really got a key -- go read the email they sent you and you'll see instructions to load it up.  You can even patch it (but not log in) as of today.

I'm a fileplanet member *anyway* before all this, so I went and got myself a beta key, but may I say the process SUCKED.  They want to you load up their Comrade application (like xfire, but lamer) to get updates as to when keys would come available.  And then you had to reload the beta page every few minutes or the keys would come available -- and be exhausted -- within a few minutes. 

I'm a consultant, and work from my home office, and could sit listening to a work related podcast while mashing reload every 30 seconds -- and it took me 2.5 days to get a key.  If I had paid for a FP subscription just for a chance to torture myself for the chance at a key -- I'd be pissed.

Shava

I somehow doubt that the 'gold version-to-release version' patch will be anywhere near the size of the full beta client (with restrictions) download that people have to endure with the fileplanet beta.

If it's 1/10th the size, aka 1.3GB, then provided they have the same bandwidth upon release with fileplanet, they will have to move data to 10x 'fileplanet beta testers'. Besides, they have already divided their future subscribers in 3 (non-equal) parts:

• 3 days early
• Normal release
• Everyone else not in a hurry

And that's without counting the difference in dates between EU and US release.

One last thing. This isn't the first time I read the 600.000 number. And in this occasion as in the past, the number was related to the infrastructure to sustain a player base playing the game. I don't think it's very clear that they will sustain a similar infrastructure for patching as well. In any case, it's not very clear if it's the same case fore both.

@ OP

Interesting article, although FC responses are very weak and did not really justify their recent moves. one of the biggest flops in their response is how they brushed off Torrents as a method of distribution. So far, Bit Torrent technology is the best way to distribute large chunks of data between large number of clients - traffic is not centralized but is shared among the network of those clients that are downloading data. The load on main server would have been reduced by a great deal.

FC reply? Going torrent would make them loose focus... what? How would uploading a torrent to a simple installation package would make them lose focus? If your client is 13 gigs or more, then torrents are the only feasible option here. Unless of course you have money to pay for huge spike in traffic.

Open beta? Well, technically they don't charge for it. but hey, If I sell you something but make you give the money to my brother, then technically, im not selling it but giving it away. If the only way to get to OB is to pay for it, then it doesn't matter who takes the money, its PAID to play. They should PAY qualified testers to test their product, and not rely on someone who is bored and has money to "test" their product.

Imagine a new car that you just bought and found out that it was never tested professionally, but rather someone with money wanted to show off his friends and paid to "test" it. Would you feel comfortable knowing someone like that tested your car?

I also work as a software engineer for a Telecom company, and I'm currently developing a new billing software. No way in hell would my boss allow me to let someone off the street to test the program. The only way to find bugs and fix it is if someone professional does it. The only time we employ public help is when we need to test networking and server loads for traffic - to identify and fix bottlenecks.

yes, most companies do employ this paid open beta method, and look where it led them (cough Vanguard cough).

Originally posted by Xasapis

I somehow doubt that the 'gold version-to-release version' patch will be anywhere near the size of the full beta client (with restrictions) download that people have to endure with the fileplanet beta.

If it's 1/10th the size, aka 1.3GB, then provided they have the same bandwidth upon release with fileplanet, they will have to move data to 10x 'fileplanet beta testers'. Besides, they have already divided their future subscribers in 3 (non-equal) parts:

• 3 days early
• Normal release
• Everyone else not in a hurry

 

And that's without counting the difference in dates between EU and US release.

One last thing. This isn't the first time I read the 600.000 number. And in this occasion as in the past, the number was related to the infrastructure to sustain a player base playing the game. I don't think it's very clear that they will sustain a similar infrastructure for patching as well. In any case, it's not very clear if it's the same case fore both.

I had not thought of that, good point.