Ok, now they're on to something. 

If they can have a decent drop rate...

If they can make the difficulty level scalable per amount of players in game...

If they can make an option to limit the amount of player and create solo games per easy , moderate and difficulty levels ...

If they can expand with optional download without detracting from the original design ...

Then ..and only then, ...yes Virginia ..there is a Santa Claus.

Short of that, same story different day and they're shorsightedness will not hide the fact that all they are interested in is $$$$$$

what i find most curious is the fact that so many people have become complacent to paying for an unfinished product. that sends the wrong message advocating to the very people that have, and will take advantage of it. 

I got an invite to the 3rd beta and am very impressed by a lot of the game the way it is, but it is beta. there are also things i don't like and i get a sour taste of deja vu. I hope the best for them but it's too early to tell how they will pan out. will they listen too much to the vocal ? will they handle the gold sellers? will they hold some backbone and stick to initial prinicipals? or become diluted and money blind?

from the trion forums to here and a couple other sites, i haven't noticed anyone saying anything about paying them for the beta. I don't like that trend.

 The game it'self is pretty cool. Some of the music is really done well. The retail release however is very much like what the guy posting before me has said. I would suggest you get  Crysis downloaded on your rig  because you're going to want to snipe koreans after playing L2.  I was in the closed beta of L2 and really liked the game but what they did and are doing to it is more wrong than words can describe. I play on a private server and have liked that alot. From the things I've read beforehand about private servers is that nc has little concern about them so they do nothing about them. Much like the retail game. I'll let you read between the lines on that one, but obviously it says alot about a company.

Good luck in whatever game suits you.  It appears this is the time to look around and experiment  with different game designs available. The world is your oyster.

Got to hand it to 'em for being honest about it. Having the chance to help shape a game rather than be subjected to it's undeniable crap is definately stepping in the right direction. Beta is an unusual  experience and it will be even better if they listen to the people getting to test it out. I hope you people point things out well and not over compensate.

I myself would have liked to be there, but I just can't justify handing someone money for it. I would hope they didn't need the cash that bad to not allow testing for them for free. Maybe this way will be good as long as the fanatics don't get free reign. Good luck.

Has anyone any information on how the character movement is controlled? Is it wasd? or mouse movement? Or does it perhaps have both for our choice?

Thanks for the info. That would explain it.

I've gone throught the same thing. A couple hours of re install. A couple more hours of patching. A path to the account / subscription page of convoluted options to find account " forzen".  As if I didn't already know I stopped playing / paying months ago.

They sent an email to invite people to re evaluate and suggest in the email it is easy as 1,2 ,3.  It's not. The account / subscription page is far too confusing compared to many other sites. Call me jaded, that lends to disception.

I submitted an email to the support, and got an answer a day later. Funny how the trial period is on a timed basis ticking away.

The response I received was apologetic with some direction admitting that it can be misinterpretted. However had I looked at the bottom of the page of the reactivated page I would have seen an option to disregard restarted  account and continue to download.  First of all..I had already downloaded and installed and patched the previous several hours . Secondly, there was no page available to me indicating a congradulations for re activating as this was never my intention and there was no such page except for the one requiring cc information to charge me with.

The last part of the email response from Funcom, asked if I was interested in going ahead with acquiring the free re evaluation period. ( the question it'self was confusing for them to ask since I wouldn't be making an inquiry otherwise..but I digress ) I was informed if I choose to have my account " unfrozen" , it would cost me any items previously offered to me. Correct me if I'm wrong on this one, but doesn't that suggest a cost?

 I'm currently pondering any further dealings with them. Perhaps I missed an important step. In the interest of seeing a positive outcome I'll wait and see information from others experiences . Good luck to all in this situaltion.

I noticed the subscription page is still as convoluted as I remember. After digging around on it ten different ways I have only come to find that they expect a cc number to reactivate an account in order to receive the re evaluation period trial..which is ticking away as we speak. Has anyone found a way through that mess short of contacting the support people? ( which i have done but after several hours of re install and patching was too late friday evening) I read a 4 page thread with alot of that info. here the other day but it's been buried and I'm tired of digging.

You would tend to suspect if a game company wanted people to come back...they would do a better job at making that as easy as possible. I'm only getting the feeling I've made a trip into a desert to see sand.

good stuff....death stare

 Aged ol Conards : Adnauseum in Hybordom

  That's all I can really equate it to. I leveled a demonologist to 40 and feel it's all I could handle. The pet succubus has no power,less additional hp benefit. What happened to the original show of a potent backup from their movie demos of her?

  The loot table to a      " Boss"            <.< ,  >.>   must disappear so fast you don't see it drop....

  So in fairness I roll a conqueror  then  a gaurdian ran em both to lvl 8 without equiping anything except a weapon for each of em.  Kinda wierd how fast both of those got through the content to lvl 8 in a fraction of the time, my caster did.   Is that what they call balance? Granted my caster was my main and I was on the learning curve with the game..but come on.

  Then the news of a GM going overtly Soup Nazi on a guild on a pvp server.... you gotta be kidding

  Breaking point... yep , and these guys build a glass house and start throwing stones.... Simply amazing....

can't get up for this hyped out b.s.  It  has the look of Dungeons and Dragons , It appears as linear , and go from point A to point B as Guild Wars, and has the dialog interaction of Witcher. Add to that the need to press buttons similar to an old playstation Mario game, oh ya, and they fully intend to put in out to a console...good grief if that isn't enough to show some writing on the wall..so many sicophantic nut suckers running around very akin to a gay parade.  I get the feeling it's going to be less than hoped for and from what i have read and seen cannot justify giving them money for it. So by all means all of you gregarious sheep throw your money out there to them, and at least try to show and tell all you can as truthfully as you can. I'd like to be proven wrong, but i'm not holding out much faith that will happen. So I'll wait.

Funcom = soup nazi's  and with there lack of attention to outlined detail to there customers through ambiquity they've brought it upon themselves.

Marketing scam, play on words, timing intent on "limited availability" either way they're fuckin with consumers be it Eidos, Funcom or your local retailer. They used the market to fuck you out of your cash, patience and any limited belief system you might hold for this entertainment.

If I went to a theater to see a flick, and they were sold out, you bet your ass I wouldn't give them my cash anyway...

Did you people forget about Hellgate already....reminds me of their tricks...pay for founders then next week everyone gets same for free.

I haven't canceled my preorder thought the lack of interest I'm attaining from all the stories is getting close to cause for the drive to Gamestop.

Now maybe it's just me..but wouldn't you think they'd at least try to get Chef from Sesame Street to help endorse?

you're in the wrong game church goer...Fuck off with your censorship bs

i wanna see boobies... and i gotta agree with yzf600 if yer old lady don't like you lookin..there's something amiss with yer misses....fuck codependancy

Maybe if I were doing consecutive life sentences for subscribing in the first place sure.

NO DROPS..... GRIND FEST......wtf  

  Well boobs are good, blood and gore...ya that too. I'll take the former over the latter everytime...: )-

   And say what you will about point and click, but 9 million, ( ok a fraction of that in the US, considering point and click is an Eastern thing) people playing the beloved WoW and or have played it. We obviously use...Point and Click.

  I am one who prefers it. I like to kick back at my desk with my feet up. I don't want to friggin baby sit my damn keyboard, fondling it like I would the aforementioned boobs...lol.

 Hopefully whoever is in place of deciding and implementing character movement in these games doesn't overlook the fact there are presently a shitload of people used to point and click..liking it or not.

 They should use the good sense and understanding that this feature is as potent a point as perhaps rushing there crap out the door too soon..  Bad example but true.

 The true new age designers and game makers should look to enabling BOTH Point and Click and WASD.

 But then again, I am the one who will continue preaching to these people we want diversity WITH options.

   Perfect example of how to jack the cash from unsuspecting consumers.Perfect example of how an( MMO ) and i refer to it as loosely as they have, should NOT have been released.

        It sickens me to think they've shown other developers / marketers / publishers what you can get away with .

  I like the fact you took the time to present a poll. It shows the diversity of interest in both yourself and the gamers. Several of them however were not as specific as they could have been, and may have corrupted the answers. But I see several were commented on. Spelling things out to corner a perticular subject or thought  would have led to a lot more writing. Perhaps making specific results more understandable by both sides.

But most importantly you show initiative in doing this. We have all seen the results of people having made games that were just thrown out there.  Diversity with options is the key. Good luck.