Fallen Earth entered Alpha testing this past week and unfortunately I didn't get in.  For those of us on the FE forums that have been fans since the official site launch in January of 2007 we were truly heart broken when FE used Gamespot to handle their Alpha phase applications. What happened  to FE handling it?  There used to be a newsletter that went out as email before they started questions of the week.  And it was mentioned that if you put in your system specs after joining the site that  you would later possibly be chosen via email for testing.  Then later in the forums, the forum Moderator posted about a new post coming out to update system specs since most fans had existed on the site for so long that they have updated their systems since joining.  So where is the reward for loyalty, contributing and caring about this game?  The developers changed effects of the game based on loyal fan input...(i.e. "Mutations.... more X-files that X-men"...remember that?)  Some people have been fans of this game much longer that myself and this is how FE treats them?  Who knows how many  apllicants were fans for over a year or how fast it went.  The worse part is now there has been a surge of "newbies" on the FE site that have seemed to come out of the woodwork at the mention of the word Alpha.  These newbies which I consider as anyone having joined after the Alpha testing announcement...(just look at their join dates) are now bringing up questions without even checking the site or looking at older questions of the week.  Where were you guys when this game was in the early stages of development and what have you contributed?  And the sad thing is.... is that a bunch of these people along with others who have no idea about FE or what to expect are Alpha testing it.  

Bottom line FE...Icarus....you dropped the ball and let me down.

Your not missing much, alpha testing isnt fun at all.

Though i do agree they should have looked towards their own forums rather then random people on gamespot. I hope they read your post and change their ways.

Originally posted by Growaidun

Fallen Earth entered Alpha testing this past week and unfortunately I didn't get in.  For those of us on the FE forums that have been fans since the official site launch in January of 2007 we were truly heart broken when FE used Gamespot to handle their Alpha phase applications. What happened  to FE handling it?  There used to be a newsletter that went out as email before they started questions of the week.  And it was mentioned that if you put in your system specs after joining the site that  you would later possibly be chosen via email for testing.  Then later in the forums, the forum Moderator posted about a new post coming out to update system specs since most fans had existed on the site for so long that they have updated their systems since joining.  So where is the reward for loyalty, contributing and caring about this game?  The developers changed effects of the game based on loyal fan input...(i.e. "Mutations.... more X-files that X-men"...remember that?)  Some people have been fans of this game much longer that myself and this is how FE treats them?  Who knows how many  apllicants were fans for over a year or how fast it went.  The worse part is now there has been a surge of "newbies" on the FE site that have seemed to come out of the woodwork at the mention of the word Alpha.  These newbies which I consider as anyone having joined after the Alpha testing announcement...(just look at their join dates) are now bringing up questions without even checking the site or looking at older questions of the week.  Where were you guys when this game was in the early stages of development and what have you contributed?  And the sad thing is.... is that a bunch of these people along with others who have no idea about FE or what to expect are Alpha testing it.  

Bottom line FE...Icarus....you dropped the ball and let me down.

meh they messed up. maybe next time youll read that keys will go out right away and be there for te keys or maybe theyw ill do it diffrent this time there wasnt that many keys out there.

but there great devs not so good at biz stuff ps shi* happens try to be more prompt on next invite.

Alot of forusm members did get in tho well not alot only like 50 or so keys were there

Originally posted by Growaidun

Fallen Earth entered Alpha testing this past week and unfortunately I didn't get in.  For those of us on the FE forums that have been fans since the official site launch in January of 2007 we were truly heart broken when FE used Gamespot to handle their Alpha phase applications. What happened  to FE handling it?  There used to be a newsletter that went out as email before they started questions of the week.  And it was mentioned that if you put in your system specs after joining the site that  you would later possibly be chosen via email for testing.  Then later in the forums, the forum Moderator posted about a new post coming out to update system specs since most fans had existed on the site for so long that they have updated their systems since joining.  So where is the reward for loyalty, contributing and caring about this game?  The developers changed effects of the game based on loyal fan input...(i.e. "Mutations.... more X-files that X-men"...remember that?)  Some people have been fans of this game much longer that myself and this is how FE treats them?  Who knows how many  apllicants were fans for over a year or how fast it went.  The worse part is now there has been a surge of "newbies" on the FE site that have seemed to come out of the woodwork at the mention of the word Alpha.  These newbies which I consider as anyone having joined after the Alpha testing announcement...(just look at their join dates) are now bringing up questions without even checking the site or looking at older questions of the week.  Where were you guys when this game was in the early stages of development and what have you contributed?  And the sad thing is.... is that a bunch of these people along with others who have no idea about FE or what to expect are Alpha testing it.  

Bottom line FE...Icarus....you dropped the ball and let me down.

Just deal with the fact you don't meet the requirements for the Alpha, it is ammusing how some people think they are owed something for nothing. Move on and do something a little more productive than whine, like most of us have.

Originally posted by Isane

Just deal with the fact you don't meet the requirements for the Alpha, it is ammusing how some people think they are owed something for nothing. Move on and do something a little more productive than whine, like most of us have.

Thats not what the post was about, L2read.

His post was about the fact that instead of taking the alpha testers out of their own forums, especially the ones that had been there for a while, they just threw out an alpha invite for gamespot, so instead of rewarding loyalty, they were rewarding luck.

They made a bad choice for whatever reason. And hope they do something better next time for sure.

But not to worry:) I would bet that most of those that know nothing of the game will not last long at all:) The ones looking for a free game to play will not put up with having to test an alpha.

Originally posted by DarLorkar

They made a bad choice for whatever reason. And hope they do something better next time for sure.

 

But not to worry:) I would bet that most of those that know nothing of the game will not last long at all:) The ones looking for a free game to play will not put up with having to test an alpha.

thats true : ) but do relize some people that are newer to the forums know what alpha testing is about : )

 but of course there is a few looking for that free game

As downtoearth pointed out, many of the forum members got in to the alpha, because they were made aware of the gamespot signups by Icarus before the alpha signups started. If you are a regular member of the official forums, but did not see the alert posted about the gamespot alpha, that's not Icarus fault, since many did apparently see it.

Also, if you did sign-up over at the gamestop thing but did not get picked, don't get pissed so soon. Icarus have already said that they will be picking more alpha members and they are doing so from the original signups, they are not holding new ones. Everyone who signed up is in the pool for the next round of invites. So if your name is in, you are still in the running.

Originally posted by Zorvan

As downtoearth pointed out, many of the forum members got in to the alpha, because they were made aware of the gamespot signups by Icarus before the alpha signups started. If you are a regular member of the official forums, but did not see the alert posted about the gamespot alpha, that's not Icarus fault, since many did apparently see it.

Also, if you did sign-up over at the gamestop thing but did not get picked, don't get pissed so soon. Icarus have already said that they will be picking more alpha members and they are doing so from the original signups, they are not holding new ones. Everyone who signed up is in the pool for the next round of invites. So if your name is in, you are still in the running.

 

Thank you zorvan
 

This was poorly executed and shafted the loyal fans on their forums, and fans with fansites (if there are any).  I would be really disappointed how this was handled if i followed this for years though, but i've only been loosely following this game for a month or two, so it's not a big deal to me.

Betas are usually for random invites or a combination of both qualifications and random invites, not for alpha testing though.  Hopefully they handle this situation better in the future.

As for Icarus posting when the signups were, please remember that it was delayed, so people went to bed or work, or whatever else they had to do, and missed the alert that went out.

Originally posted by observer

This was poorly executed and shafted the loyal fans on their forums, and fans with fansites (if there are any).  I would be really disappointed how this was handled if i followed this for years though, but i've only been loosely following this game for a month or two, so it's not a big deal to me.

Betas are usually for random invites or a combination of both qualifications and random invites, not for alpha testing though.  Hopefully they handle this situation better in the future.

As for Icarus posting when the signups were, please remember that it was delayed, so people went to bed or work, or whatever else they had to do, and missed the alert that went out.

blaa blaa blaa read zorvans post

and yes hopefully they do but reread zorvans post please

and from my experince the people that complain about this the most wont last in alpha testing (maybe)

Originally posted by observer

This was poorly executed and shafted the loyal fans on their forums, and fans with fansites (if there are any).  I would be really disappointed how this was handled if i followed this for years though, but i've only been loosely following this game for a month or two, so it's not a big deal to me.

The thing is that Icarus didn't promise a single person an alpha invite. Even the OP said it when he dropped the word "possibly" in his argument. Anyone who follows the game or posts every day on the boards does so out of free will. To expect anything more than appreciation for the loyalty is a bit foolhardy.

Processing Apps , no matter how many you get , is a money sink. Most times the publisher and CSR work on the apps , setup the system and resources to handle those apps. FE did the responsible thing in having someone with both the manpower and system to do the apps.

  Why waste resources on making a 1 time beta process , when you put those resources into contest , the game or even more staff to handle the influx of newbies. Its pretty selfish of you OP to call them dropping the ball , because you didnt get in , its a very logic thing to outsource.

I would accept you being up if they demanded you buy a month of Fileplanet , and did some sort bait & switch with the client ..

  To close , OP , grow up , get some perspective on how businesses work and get over yourself.

Also to add, by using Gamespot this game gets more free publicity and is encountered by more potential customers who may not have given this game a second look beforehand. 

Alpha?

Blah I hate alphas.

Hoping they move along to beta then release pretty quick, its only been like 4 or 5 years now

Maybe Zorvan can send me secret messages because he wuvs me and he knows I WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME

Originally posted by Torak

Alpha?

Blah I hate alphas.

Hoping they move along to beta then release pretty quick, its only been like 4 or 5 years now

Maybe Zorvan can send me secret messages because he wuvs me and he knows I WANT TO PLAY THIS GAME

 

 

 

beta doesnt start till 2009 its goign to be another year probly

Did anyone here even get in?

Originally posted by Varking_SaS

Did anyone here even get in?

NDA prohibits even saying you are in.

One should never ever make first impressions from playing a game in "alpha" which is one of the reasons they got NDA in the first place. And it also means that you are breaking the law and trust of the game company by writing what you think about the game.

What frustrations are there to vent?  That there is an alpha and you did not get chosen?  Can't vent about the gameplay, graphics or anything like that because 1) its under NDA and 2) It is an ALPHA.

Oh and by the way, that was the Re-launch of the site.  Many many people had been following the game since around 2005 and from what I have seen of the FE forums, well most of you are a pretty pathetic excuse for a community.  Just watching you all whine bitch and moan about the way that they chose to do the alpha test, and to see you come over here and continue your crying, is indicative of a bunch of spoiled children that believe that they are owed something which, in fact, you aren't.  Hell you should be thanking them for giving you all a second chance after whining for hours over and over again.