General Discussion

Originally posted by Qmire

anyways oh well, i'll wait till this game has been released and i've heard good enough opinions from people playing it.

It's amazing how many people forget that they were never promised or guarenteed beta access and that all they really have to do is wait a few weeks to hear reviews on the game. I personally don't buy a console game, regardless of how much of a fangirl I am of it, until I've read reviews of it. So why should MMOs be any different? You don't hear people freaking out because they didn't get a chance to play GTA4 before they shell out $50+ for it...

It is my personal opinion that Fileplanet is a giant, smelly truck load of bullsh*t...they charge for any "special beta" that's coming out, and try to pinch pennies out of everything.

At one point, Fileplanet had a beta for subscribers only, the beta was for like, 4 days or something, and yet, if you did a little searching you could find a 14 day beta for the same game for anyone, so not only do they rip you off with an absolutely crappy premium service that doesn't offer much except the CHANCE of some special beta, but they also rip you off by offering sub par betas.

And have you ever tried dealing with their tech support? I can get more fricken help calling India...

Originally posted by ArcheusCross

. I think its funny that some of you think that they aren't getting money out of this deal. You are stupid. I really hate to say that, being positive most of the time, but you are. They ARE making money off this... not directly, but its being given to them by fileplanet due to some pre arranged agreement.

Ok, now if you could so kind as to tell me the winner of next wednesdays 17:05 at Ascot I would be greatful

If not.. shut up.

Why exactly would Fileplanet pay Funcom money and not the other way round? Funcom went to Fileplanet requesting a service, service being the distribution of massive load of data for the open beta test. If Funcom went to anybody else, they would be expected to give money to the data distributor, not the other way round. If Fileplanet feels that they are mitigating some costs by the advertisement and possible temporary increase to subscription numbers, then they would probably cut down on whatever they requested Funcom to pay them.

If anything, a good deal from Funcom's side would mean paying nothing for the distribution and handling of the massive amount of data. In any other case, they would have to pay somebody (either outsiders or their own employs & equipment) to achieve the same result.

People actually believing that Fileplanet is paying Funcom sounds a bit far fetched.

I don't pay to play a beta.  I don't care who gets the money.  I only pay for a finished product.

But waiting another month isn't going to kill anyone so complaining about not getting to play the game early isn't justified. 

What is justified is the worry that other developers (not Funcom) could look at this and figure that there are people out there still willing to pay to play a beta.  They might think that rather than letting Fileplanet get the money, they can get it instead.  The outcry from this will make those future developers think twice about it.

I agree that Funcom should have called this something like the 'Fileplanet Member Only Special Trial' or something.  With the limited content, it really sounds more like a marketing thing than part of their actual development cycle and that's fine, they just needed to be more clear about it. 

Did anyone notice the FC rep worrying about 'customer service' if they used a torrent?   In a beta you don't have customers, you have TESTERS.    Customers have a right to complain about bugs, but if testers are not ready for bugs, lag and all the rest then they shouldn't be signing up for a beta-test, even at this late date.    

That's just another sign that this is really a marketing gimmick.   There's nothing wrong with that and most people expect it from companies but Funcom should have been clear this was really a free trial for Fileplanet Members. 

Am I the only one that thought that was nothing but pure SPIN throughout that interview?

The fact remains that you must pay someone to do someone else's work for them, that makes no sense at all to me as a beta tester. AoC has lost my business because of this, and I would go to say I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way. In fact I would go as far to say their player base has been cut in half because of this move...only one little word would have made a big difference.

-Ethnine--Phorsoth-

Originally posted by phorsoth

Am I the only one that thought that was nothing but pure SPIN throughout that interview?

The fact remains that you must pay someone to do someone else's work for them, that makes no sense at all to me as a beta tester. AoC has lost my business because of this, and I would go to say I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way. In fact I would go as far to say their player base has been cut in half because of this move...only one little word would have made a big difference.

 

-Ethnine--Phorsoth-

LOL yeah right !  You made me laugh good there, half player base wont play because it's a pain to get int the beta.....

To answer the original question, would have been simplier to just send key via email to those who register themself for the beta.  I don't remember how long ago i registred for the beta, never ever got any invite from Funcom, only the newsletters from time to time.  

I thought I'd also add that it's not really an "open beta" when the majority of the keys they give out ARE to FP which sucks balls

Originally posted by Samuraisword

A bunch of lame excuses from Funcom. Paying to beta test is retarded. I call shenanigans.

Funcom is not getting your money. They deferred the capital costs to Fileplanet; in exchange, presumably Fileplanet gets more members. Funcom does not profit from beta testers in this arrangement.

It still may suck that we have to pay money to get a chance at OB but Funcom isn't charging us that fee.

I think they would have been far better off putting a couple double-sided dvds in a sleeve and sell them in stores for $5.  I didn't mind paying $5 to try out LotR and if you buy the game you get your money back...