EQ2 Beta Contest (from f13) (originally from IGN)

[Soukyan]

The pre-order is about inline with WoW Collector's Edition (which I also pre-ordered) except EQ2 is giving up the in-game goodies. But really the 80 for WoW and 90 for EQ2 are justified by the art books if they are well made. IF...

[Merusk]

The pre-order is about inline with WoW Collector's Edition (which I also pre-ordered) except EQ2 is giving up the in-game goodies. But really the 80 for WoW and 90 for EQ2 are justified by the art books if they are well made. IF...

WoWs giving an in-game pet (What kind has yet to be announced. Ideas tossed out by the devs were a Mechanical Pandaran and a Zergling.)

The full game on both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM
1-month subscription to World of Warcraft
The Art of World of Warcraft, 200+ page hardcover art book
World of Warcraft Behind-the-Scenes DVD
Exclusive in-game pet
Official soundtrack
Cloth map charting the continents of Kalimdor, Azeroth, Khaz Modan, and Lordaeron
Signed Collector’s Edition game manual
10-Day Free Guest Pass – invite one of your friends to join the epic quest

I got the WC3 CE, (It was there, and only $10 more than the 'standard' version) and it was worth it. The signed manual will be like the wc3 one, the back cover will be printed with their signatures. The CD of music was "meh" in WC3 but the art & production book Blizzard put together was definatly worth at least $20 more.

[Raven]

Good luck everyone.

/crosses fingers

Raven

[Biobanger]

It's always nice to hear of new developments and such for the games you want to play. I hope I can get one of the beta accounts. Even if I can't, the open beta can't be that far away.

[Resvrgam]

...the open beta can't be that far away.

SOE is neither confirming nor denying an Open Beta. :(  Those dodgey bastards may, infact, not have an Open Beta near or around launch time.

[Nebu]

Word is that SOE is giving 30 beta keys to a large number of fansites.  This may be their way of approximating an "open" beta.  It also justifies their charging people (not directly, but in essence) for a spot in the beta by not having a free open beta.

The company has years of experience with high traffic online gameplay support.  If someone has a shot at getting this right without using a free stress test, I'd hope that it would be them. Then again, it is SOE so anything is possible.

[Sky]

You get J-Boots.  That would be the best thing IMO.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner. That's why I preordered. The game may be total ass, but just in case it's cool, I don't want to go through that shit again imo.

Do we get jboots for the beta, too? Daddy don't like slow movement speeds (see also: DAoC).

[El Gallo]

Can I have a key so I can betatest the experience of an antisocial 2-boxing loot whore prz?

[UD_Delt]

I'd love to get into the EQ2 beta in some way. I'm back to playing EQ original at the moment whenever I need a poker break. I'd like to figure out if EQ2 is going to be worth getting once it comes out.


Edit: Does it make me a lurker when 80% of my post count comes from the online poker threads?

[HaemishM]

No, that makes you a gambling addict.

[Daeven]

I'll toss my hat into the ring. But since this is page 4 I'll probably get the 'ya, sure, we'd let ya in, IF YOU PAYED ATTENTION LOOSER!" award.

*shrug*

[schild]

Alright. I've got a list down, i'll let people update this through noon tomorrow and modify the list if some surprise people sign up. But other than that, You'll get the first round tomorrow. Two of the people you will not know as they are friends off the internet. I limited it to two though. So don't worry about that. 28 more to go around, if you don't get picked and REALLY want in, just send me a PM.

Thanks for the interest.

[Jon Carver]

You get J-Boots.  That would be the best thing IMO.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner. That's why I preordered. The game may be total ass, but just in case it's cool, I don't want to go through that shit again imo.

Do we get jboots for the beta, too? Daddy don't like slow movement speeds (see also: DAoC).

Heh, jboots.  

/chuckle

As those who come ot the beta will see...well...nevermind.

As some of you may remember our guild in SWG, anyone interested in getting together in beta should message me on the EQ2 beta boards and we' ll hook up.   I'm "Jon" on those boards.

I like this game.  A lot.  I  think it will be successful.

[Liquidator]

I hope I made the list, if not, there's always a chance I'll get one of the 20 slots that another MMO website is giving away.  Yeah, right.

[CmdrSlack]

Put me in the "not paying attention" category.

But if there's still room on the list, or whatever, then yeah, I'd like to beta this.

If not, I'll just hope people can tell me whether it blows.  Eventually.  Once the NDA lifts.

[Gong]

yeah, I'll be another asshole coming out of the woodwork. Like others before me, I also think that the big posters should get priority, but if some of the invites are going to be randomly done, I'm interested.

it's not my fault the post count is so low, I promise! it's just that everyone is generally as caustin and cynical as I tend to be. scary.

[ahoythematey]

You realize this thread lends weight to any dev scornfully calling us the "beta community".  I mean, some of these names I can't recall seeing after the implosion at SND.

[Alkiera]

You realize this thread lends weight to any dev scornfully calling us the "beta community".  I mean, some of these names I can't recall seeing after the implosion at SND.

Well, if you look at our collective commentary on the existing games, it's fairly evident why we stop playing when there is no longer much of a chance of the game changing significantly for the better.  Once the game goes live, the primary design decisions seem to be pretty much etched in stone...  Any change of a major system requires too much dev time/artist time/designer time, especially given so much of their time seems to be spent fixing the minor problems with the code/art/design.

Many of us are backseat game designers...  As Schild mentioned in another thread, he posted about his issues with EQ2 systems repeatedly, until he got tired of reading the responses of the SOE family members and fanbois.  We understand design choices much better than the average MMO gamer, and frequently as well as (and sometimes better than) the devs who made them.  We can also elucidate our feelings about the game with a resolution greater than 'It sux', 'meh', or 'It rox'.  Experience has shown us what we don't like, and discussion here has forced thought on what we DO like, and why.

Most of us have spent a good bit of time actually subscribed to online games.  Unlike the Vault, our problem with MMO's is generally NOT the monthly fee.  We understand the concept of disposable income, and methods of obtaining such other than begging from mom and/or dad.

We don't need a game that doesn't cost anything to play, we're looking for a game that's worth paying for...  and do what we can, in a beta, to achieve those ends.

Frankly, were I a game developer, I'd love to know of several 'beta communities' like us to have hit my game.  Ideally there'd be a decent amount of spread between the 'ideal game' of one community and the next, to help weigh comments.  The collective experience of a large group of experienced online gamers is bound to be much more helpful than an equivilent sized group of people with an average of 'little' experience.

While at some point a group of 'new users', unexperienced players, is useful, their comments on much past 'the newbie experience' should be looked upon dubiously, at best.  When designing a new gun, a gunsmith doesn't pull a random person off the street and say 'here, try this out, tell me what you think'.  He goes to military, law enforcement, and hobbiest experts, and finds out what THEY think.  The same is true of any industry small enough to have hobbiests.  Contrary to investor desire, MMOs are never going to extend beyond the hobbiest level.  The general public gets together to eat, to go to movies, to watch TV, but not to play persistant games.

--
Alkiera

[ahoythematey]

Please don't take offense or misunderstand me, alkiera: I consider myself a part of the "beta community" as it is.  My remark was general reflection on what easy targets we make ourselves.  I'm surprised how so many names I recall "back in the day" suddenly show up for the EQ2 beta and in the back of my mind I'm thinking "a lot of you fuckers want to demo this game, not beta test it" when I myself feel that beta testing a MMO should be a taxing affair that would cause many to in fact never want to play the game come release, since they are so exhausted by the experience of bug-finding and retesting and retesting ad nauseam.

Erm...basically, I want them to suffer.  I'm a sadist...

[MrHat]

You realize this thread lends weight to any dev scornfully calling us the "beta community".  I mean, some of these names I can't recall seeing after the implosion at SND.

Well, if you look at our collective commentary on the existing games, it's fairly evident why we stop playing when there is no longer much of a chance of the game changing significantly for the better.  Once the game goes live, the primary design decisions seem to be pretty much etched in stone...  Any change of a major system requires too much dev time/artist time/designer time, especially given so much of their time seems to be spent fixing the minor problems with the code/art/design.

Many of us are backseat game designers...  As Schild mentioned in another thread, he posted about his issues with EQ2 systems repeatedly, until he got tired of reading the responses of the SOE family members and fanbois.  We understand design choices much better than the average MMO gamer, and frequently as well as (and sometimes better than) the devs who made them.  We can also elucidate our feelings about the game with a resolution greater than 'It sux', 'meh', or 'It rox'.  Experience has shown us what we don't like, and discussion here has forced thought on what we DO like, and why.

Most of us have spent a good bit of time actually subscribed to online games.  Unlike the Vault, our problem with MMO's is generally NOT the monthly fee.  We understand the concept of disposable income, and methods of obtaining such other than begging from mom and/or dad.

We don't need a game that doesn't cost anything to play, we're looking for a game that's worth paying for...  and do what we can, in a beta, to achieve those ends.

Frankly, were I a game developer, I'd love to know of several 'beta communities' like us to have hit my game.  Ideally there'd be a decent amount of spread between the 'ideal game' of one community and the next, to help weigh comments.  The collective experience of a large group of experienced online gamers is bound to be much more helpful than an equivilent sized group of people with an average of 'little' experience.

While at some point a group of 'new users', unexperienced players, is useful, their comments on much past 'the newbie experience' should be looked upon dubiously, at best.  When designing a new gun, a gunsmith doesn't pull a random person off the street and say 'here, try this out, tell me what you think'.  He goes to military, law enforcement, and hobbiest experts, and finds out what THEY think.  The same is true of any industry small enough to have hobbiests.  Contrary to investor desire, MMOs are never going to extend beyond the hobbiest level.  The general public gets together to eat, to go to movies, to watch TV, but not to play persistant games.

--
Alkiera

And if I were a developer, I'd be reading the websites/blogs/forums of communities who can express themselves in a sensible fashion more than my own forums filled w/ worshippers who think I can do no wrong.

Well, maybe everynow and then when I need an esteem boost.

[Alkiera]

And if I were a developer, I'd be reading the websites/blogs/forums of communities who can express themselves in a sensible fashion more than my own forums filled w/ worshippers who think I can do no wrong.

Well, maybe everynow and then when I need an esteem boost.

And that is where the common NDA system bites devs on the butt.  If there's an NDA, then the only place players can comment and discuss is the company 'beta forums', which is, really, just a pre-birth Whineplay, in most cases.  Allowing beta players to talk about WoW anywhere lets them see what their players REALLY think when discussing the game with people they know.

--
Alkiera

[HaemishM]

Erm...basically, I want them to suffer.  I'm a sadist...

To be fair, playing an MMOG, even in release, is very much like suffering.

[Fargull]

Haemish,

I think that point comes, and the quicker it arrives the worse the design plays from my perspective.  I still enjoy COH... something I did not think would happen.

Alkiera,

Like the comments, but I want to stab your avatar with sharp objects.

[kemmyn]

quick question-

is the voiceover stuff in the beta?  i mean is this like an *8 GIG* download?  that may make a few people less interested.  or does this let us get beta CD's?

thanks-

[schild]

Yes, it's a full 5 gig download. All the voices are in (that have been made) and every thursday there's a new voiceover pack with the patch. So about 600 megs of changes a week.

[Raven]

[MrHat]

I clocked 6 GB's, but I'm crazy like that.

[Riggswolfe]

<does a semiquick post count poll and wonders, giving everyone suspicious looks>

[Merusk]

<does a semiquick post count poll and wonders, giving everyone suspicious looks>

Only just?  I did it last night.. I was #30 by postcount in this post, but there's only 28 spots. D'oh.

[Raven]

If it's first come first serve, I'm doomed.

[Paelos]

Don't worry Merusk, I declined.

[Sky]

<does a semiquick post count poll and wonders, giving everyone suspicious looks>

Oh man, that was kinda depressing. I post a lot imo. *scurries off to get some work done*

[Riggswolfe]

<does a semiquick post count poll and wonders, giving everyone suspicious looks>

Oh man, that was kinda depressing. I post a lot imo. *scurries off to get some work done*

Then you probably made it. I post more than I thought I did. I give myself a 50/50 chance to make it in.

[HaemishM]

Wow... only schild posts more than me.

[Riggswolfe]

I come to this site alot but try desperately to avoid certain posts (IE most of the political ones lately). That and I have a bad case of internet assholiesh which I struggle to keep in check. (See my remarks to Schild about SOE). Sadly it's mostly meant to be joking but over the net it doesn't come across that way.