This interview does not give any on spot reasons for limiting gameplay to 13 lvls.  In fact - considering 13 gb download it does exactly the oposite.

Conclution - Funcom is obviously limiting "fileplaned" open NDA beta for a reason. 

“We have nothing to hide,” he answered, “in fact, I have heard from so many testers that the game gets even better as you move beyond Tortage.”

So tell me Mr. Tharaldsen.  Why are ppl downloading 13 gb gameclient from fileplanet just to play 13 lvls - and paying for it ? 

And about "many testers" - I heard from "some ppl" that they think Mr. Tharaldsen might be gay.  But I made them sign NDA so ....

There is nothing open about this beta.  Its limited playable full download client - that "testers" are paying for.   And as stresstest ?  That is a joke.  First 13 lvls will keep ppl intrested for less than one day.  

There is nothing positive coming out of this.  You will hear that when the reviews from the 50k "testers" will start flooding in - based on the fact it takes 3 hours to lvl to 13 - and ppl had to pay and dl 13gb client to do it. 

Ofc its a joke

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.

Let me put it this way...

Read the article again. Notice where there is a talk about allowing the developers time to focus on the release of the game.  Then think of  your "idea" about making a "new" game with first 13 lvls...   Your 1.3 gb client. 

Thats just bullshit.  If they need that kinda stresstest they can put together a 1mb client and ask the testers to run it. 

And again - read this

” He went on to tell us that download speed was a consideration in the decision. After all, the client itself is a hefty 13Gb in size. “

 Ofc ppl are dling the full gold version.  Get real - its 13 gb of 13 lvls that can be reached within 3 hours.

Some bird whispered to me that lvl 22 is the record for 3 hour gamplay - after chara wipe.

To jimmyman99:

If I read what you wrote right, you're claiming that pretty much any kind of public beta testing is more or less useless unless done by professionals. I don't necessarily disagree with you since pretty much everything, besides the heavy traffic load in real world conditions and the unforeseen glitch, can be found by professionals, given time and numbers.

I think that they had hoped for a "give files and let Fileplanet worry about distribution, while we only reap the results of the open beta". I don't know if it's working as planned. I do know that if it was some other company, they'd bury their heads in the sand and wouldn't talk about it at all.

One last thing about torrents. Personally I don' t like them. Given the choice I'd always pick the ftp or http download. Torrent equals low quality download as far as I'm concerned and as far as my own line can sustain. I do understand the need at times. Maybe in a parallel universe where P2P networks did not congest internet traffic forcing providers to limit the speed, it would have been a good choice. As it stands now, it's the lowest quality download method one can provide over the internet.

To Alan0n:

I was rather skeptical about the reception of the PvP weekend and it proved to be well received in general.

I will wait again before daring any proclamations for the reception of the Fileplanet beta as well.

Originally posted by Xasapis

To Alan0n:

I was rather skeptical about the reception of the PvP weekend and it proved to be well received in general.

I will wait again before daring any proclamations for the reception of the Fileplanet beta as well.

Im not gonna buy this any more expensive than I bought it - but again - a small bird whispered the word "memory leak".  So that might be good reason why players are not really playing the game for more than 3-4 hours at the time with many diffrent loading screens. 

But hey.. there is nothing to hide.  "testers" will get full taste of the 13 gb client in first 13 lvls.  Or ? ...

Give any reason why its not open ended ?   Any ?   One ?  13 gb ? 13 lvl?  Reason ? 

Keep asking yourself.

I can think of one but if that was true, they would have to limit the client to level 20, not 13.

my concern with this Fileplanet beta is that it only goes up to lvl 13. MOST games you dont get a feel for the actual game, since the noobie area is usually the most polished area, trying to entice a person in. This is where my problem comes in. If Conan does well, thats great, but what if the noob area is very polished and great, but once you get out of it, it's buggy, imbalanced, etc?

As far as i recall, lvl 13 doesnt even get you out of the starter area (which i remember seeing is up to lvl 20). So by that logic, you basically aren't seeing the game, but an instance which is designed to promote a game. How many games have you played where the noob instance is great...but you get to lvl 20 or 30 and the game just dies? That's my concern atm with the beta (not even mentioning performance issues which may occur in non instance noob zones)

1.  A 'Beta' that is restricted to the Tutorial, Trial, Newb zone (lvl 13 max) is NOT a 'Beta'.

2.  An 'Open' Beta that is restricted to folks that have paid subscriptions to a DL service, and even then are only randomly selected, or able to get a key if they are Twitching the Site, is NOT 'Open'.

3.  An Open Beta 'Test' that happens AFTER the software has gone to production is NOT a 'Test' of the game.

This is simply a gimic that does nothing but provide hype and advertisement.  Maybe a stress test of how the servers are going to respond on opening day.

You folks that were not there for the Anarchy Online debacle do not recongnize that ALL the stuff you are seeing now is exactly the same sort of MO that Funcom pulled with AO.

So, just be ready for a less than stellar experience at launch.

And yes, for as long as folks keep posting about this great 'Beta', I will keep posting that it is NOT a Beta.  It is just a scam by Funcom that they used to quiet their critics some time ago and mask the true state of the game.

I think there playing it pretty smart doing the 13 level limit.  It gives the players little bit of the story line without giving it completely up before the game comes out.  Also it gives you more chance for trying different classes and testing them all out.  Maybe even giving a nice 13th level PVP bash as one of the surprises.   As for the fileplanet paying for beta crud, I dont really care it will tend to keep a bunch of the babies out of it and ruining it for others or funcom themselves.

i just cant get it into my big thick skull why people keep complaining about they "have" to pay for the beta.

You are not paying for the Beta your paying for a faster way to download patches,games,stuff thingy ect.

it just happens that inclued into all this there is a chance that you might be lucky enough to also enter the beta of certains games, In this case AOC.

if it is so bad to pay for that service then...dont? noone is forcing anyone to pay for the beta, your buying a service that inclued the chance of beta testing games, not AOC specific.

Also the gaming studios are not required to make an open beta, it is just an "easy" and simple way to quickly get 10.000+ people to stress test your network, just be happy that they do give us a chance of helping them and for us a chance to get a sneakpeak at a game.

so in the end: Quit whining about paying for a beta because your not, and quit whining about this not being an open beta because they are not required to give us one.

i will have to go with the few folks that also notice that more questions are raised due to this interview. though reading some of these posts and the stereotypical examples that come from all the "experts" is amusing.

simply put, things "I" disagree with (regardless of counter arguments). charging for download, charging for early play. marketing to be sure and the companies that have the keys are more than free to do what they want.......just not with me (grin), again my dollar and two cents on that.

i am going to try the open beta,..................when the email from the regular aoc site sends me one, i wont pay. as for the game and my playing schedule, TTL is 5 months 29 days away, plenty of time for them to fix everything that is going to be broken come (my) launch  time, adj any major character flaws etc, etc. it is after all, only entertainment, and there are plenty of other things to 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.

You are exactly the type of gamer I am referring to; if you weren’t, it would not have pissed you off enough to spout back your bitter tears.  Three billion my ass, the only thing you implement is a deep fryer.

/point

/laugh

pffft I dont like Fileplanet at all now before it was totaly FREE FREE to get into a FREAKING beta jeeez.

I think people whining about charging for the beta are acting ridiculously and their accusation is baseless.

Funcom isn't charging for it -- the keys were reserved exclusively for fileplanet subscribers.  Existing subscribers already saw value to the service and for them the key was a perk.  People running out to subscribe just for access and then complaining that they aren't getting value for the service because they only wanted the key....are silly.  The key is a perk of the service as a whole -- if they didn't do research before making the purchase, well the old saying holds true: a fool and his money part quickly.

Whether it is called an open beta or a fileplanet beta is meaningless.

So, why not just go with a free Torrent download?

“To that I can only say we were one of the first gaming companies to start Torrent distribution a few years ago with Anarchy Online, and of course we know a lot about Torrents, but setting up this for such an event would have served to make us lose focus right before launch. It would not have helped any of us, and running Torrents are about a lot more than just letting the world do it themselves. It needs a lot of work to get it right, and ensure good speed and a smooth customer experience.

 

Man, if that ain't BS then I don't know what BS is...

"It needs a lot of work to get it right, and ensure good speed and a smooth customer experience."

Publishing a torrent "needs a lot of work to get right"?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

Who is this guy trying to swindle, cavemen? My grandma?

well fileplanet download manger is total crap

notan excellent way to distribute 12gb file sthe least for the past 4 days i wastrying and got barely 2gb installed

blessed are the people who put a  1 file download link on the web Was able to download in less than a day

---

Originally posted by sassoonss
well fileplanet download manger is total crap

notan excellent way to distribute 12gb file sthe least for the past 4 days i wastrying and got barely 2gb installed

blessed are the people who put a 1 file download link on the web Was able to download in less than a day

---

Originally posted by markoraos

Who is this guy trying to swindle, cavemen? My grandma?

Torrent files, so easy, a caveman can do it.

If bandwidth and management costs were the primary motivators for FunCom deciding to outsource then why were all of the Technical Beta Testers -- who already have the General Beta Client installed and patched-up, ready to go -- not promoted to General Beta?

I wish they would have put the "play to only level 13" somewhere on the Open beta page. It would have been nice to know honestly.