I'd be curious what you find out.  It was my understanding that if you pre ordered in the store, it did not contain beta access.  I'm not really a credible source, though.  But, please, keep us posted.

Originally posted by AranStormah

Costumer Representives don't work that way.

Their job function is to provide the community with an illusion of being listened to. A happy costumer is a paying costumer. They'll say your idea is forwarded, your bug report is filed and they'll confirm stuff the developers might've said but that you have missed.

Unlike popular belief, they do not actually forward your ideas to the developers, if they did they would be bad CRs. The opinions of the forum posters do not represent the majority of the player base, and tend to be quite skewed. Giving in to the forums has in many games lead to the demise of the game when the developers discarded their design sheets and started 'winging it'. These are people that've in most cases taken extensive education to do their job, and they've probably sat countless hours at meetings planning every virtual tidbit of their game. It goes without saying that following the random whims of every Joe and Jane voicing their opinions would be counterproductive to the coordinated development process.

In some games Costumer Representives also hold a Moderator position which means they will make sure forum rules are followed and that content that breaks the EULA or would lead to unfortunate* discussions are censored.

*Unfortunate in many cases being topics that criticise the flaws or the failings of a company/game.

He'd definetily score points for adressing the issue of the rogue mod on the US forums and the fanatical mods on the EU forum, but that could be risky if he fancies keeping his job. Feel free to prove me wrong though.

I disagree.  In many cases, the opinions of the forum posters has more of a majority pull than you might understand.  Whiney, crying, pitiful little noobs who cry for nerfs and imbalance have more power than those of us who simply see something wrong and/or see where improvement is needed and post a suggestion.  Whiney, crying, pitiful little noob postings gather strength like a storm out at sea...they gather other whiney, crying, pitiful little noob posters until their voice just isn't a headache or inconvenience...it's a loud, unrelenting voice and in most MMOs I've played have listened to what can be heard above the crowd.

I personally love this line, "As a customer I don't have to know how to make a better game than you.  I just need to know where the cancel button is."

Having traversed across the sea of MMOs and experiencing each for short and long term, I have found myself disappointed and *sigh* bored with the choices available. 

I, too, travelled from my end game raiding in WoW to AoC and found myself in a pickle.  Shall I continue to build up a character to which I have no interest?  Shall I continue to 'not' enjoy the content, the questing, the pvp, the community (ESPECIALLY, the Community), the graphical splendor (sure the scenery is pretty, but hey, I live in Florida, I'm full-up on pretty scenery)...just because I'm wanting something new?  Should I settle?

I didn't and I won't. 

So, in this thirst for new-ness, I explored my free trial options.  Shall I wander back into a world I previously left behind or should I explore those worlds I haven't yet visited (very few choices here for pay for play)? I decided to trial, again, Everquest 2, DDO and LOTRO and tonight, DAoC.  I'm working on some MMO lovin' and finding what it was I enjoyed about each....and realizing what it was I hated, as well.

I would love a superb game...a great game with extensions into the outer regions of my imagination...but I don't see that happening anytime soon and I don't see myself running back to WoW for the greater # of things I DID enjoy. 

I'm excited about a few upcoming releases because I'm sure they will bring things new and loved (and a few hated) to the forefront and my faith in software companies may be renewed.

I'm a tad out of the loop....which classes were being cut?  I agree with the cuts so as not to overstep their capabilities at launch.  A solid MMO vs a broken one will surely keep me interested enough to spend countless hours playing to my heart's content.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

Just because a game does not fullfill your gaming desires, does not mean it sucks.  Most certainly Wow > any other game mainly because it's playerbase dwarfs any other game.  Pretty obvious conclusion.   Wow is not the perfect game, far from it, but Blizzard has certainly done enough things right to dominate the genre.

I play Eve too and enjoy that game as well.  I don't bother to pvp in Wow as Eve is a better mix in that area for me.  I don't complain about Wow though, there are a lot of players that enjoy that type of pvp. 

Some games though really scream for criticism, like AoC.  When a game like that allows players to rush to end game only to have little content there for them to play and most of that broken.  That deserves the bashing they get. 

But I still find Wow fun to play, there is just so much content to experience in the game. 

Thank you, Thank you! 

I personally love WoW, though I have recently moved from it to look into AoC, and back to DDO (which I enjoyed as well).  I will go back to WoW, when I'm ready to do so, and I will enjoy it again and again. 

This intolerance for a MMO compared to another is just childish.  If a player has such animosity towards a certain genre of play style, then my best suggestion is to stay far from it.  There's no reason to blabber on and on about a game that you dislike...those that like it really don't find it necessary and/or appropriate. 

There are MMOs that I dislike and I'm happy to share my personal reasons why I dislike them, but I will not do so to steer/veer someone away from them simply because I dislike them.  My reasoning behind them will most likely be play style, user interface, genre ( I dislike most technology-based games and prefer fantasy-based), and the graphic qualities brought to the table.

My rant is over....but know this....if I say EVE sucks...does it really?  Maybe to me, but you? Point provided.

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by Malvolentia

and why I left it for those glancing over looking for a new game.

TLDR:  WoW sucks. look elsewhere

1.  Battlegrounds - be prepared to spend most of your life in here if you even want to try and compete.  There's a massive world that goes ignored while 90% of players are in here lookin for gear.

2.  Arenas - A failed attempt at an Electronic sport.  Even most players hate it.  Blizzard won't give it up so it's left as the major focus of the game.  Forget raiding Orgrimmar or Stormwind! hop in this cage for endless hours.

3.  The world is a lie.

4.  You either PvP or PvE, there's no in between.  The gear you get in pve won't help you in pvp and vice versa.  At one point you could do group dungeons and pvp and both aspects were rewarded.  not anymore.

5.  There's just no meaningful endgame. 

 

Thanks for reading.  You'd thank me if you only knew.

 

Hmm, I manage to have a full brutal set and a nice PvE setup (Tier 6) while only playing for around two hours a day on average, I actually enjoy arena, and spend no time in battlegrounds.

But hey, maybe that's because I know what I'm doing.

I seriously doubt that you are capable with 2 hours (on average) of play time to accomplish both pvp and pve.  Even leet guilds spend 3 to 4 hours raiding, some bgs can take an hour or longer and arena is about 2 to 3 for the hour (possible 4).  Sure you can mix it up...arena one day, bg the next...raid the day after...but even with the averages you were mentioning, raiding for 2 hours (even if daily for the entire week) probably won't yield you much in the way of equipment.  Over what period of time?