Age of conan, Open beta: May 1st 2008.

[Rasix]

You can certainly fault someone for not having their game tested adequately.

[Mrbloodworth]

You can certainly fault someone for not having their game tested adequately.

Umm.... yeah.

Lets go ahead and take that back up to 200 Vs. 200 then and let people sort it out themselves.

My point was, they did test it, and are being conservative. I bet it increases over time.

[HaemishM]

If beta players haven't seen it, they haven't tested it thoroughly enough. And that's what bugs me the most about the beta stuff I've been in. It's been extremely restrictive in nature, meaning a few parts of the game will have lots of testing and some parts will have fuckall for real good testing. Or worse, will be tested in such a little amount of time that they won't be fixed. The stuff they just plain FORGOT (supposedly) to copy from the closed beta to the open beta was really big stuff that I've bitched about. If they forgot, that's sloppy, and the technical requirements of that game mean you cannot be sloppy or it will be a nightmare of bugs on release.

They made progress in open beta with engine optimization, more than I thought they would. But there are way too many things that are done poorly or sloppily for me to have any confidence in the launch. It might be a fun game 6 months from now, but I ain't spending money on this as it is.

[Lakov_Sanite]

If beta players haven't seen it, they haven't tested it thoroughly enough. And that's what bugs me the most about the beta stuff I've been in. It's been extremely restrictive in nature, meaning a few parts of the game will have lots of testing and some parts will have fuckall for real good testing. Or worse, will be tested in such a little amount of time that they won't be fixed. The stuff they just plain FORGOT (supposedly) to copy from the closed beta to the open beta was really big stuff that I've bitched about. If they forgot, that's sloppy, and the technical requirements of that game mean you cannot be sloppy or it will be a nightmare of bugs on release.

They made progress in open beta with engine optimization, more than I thought they would. But there are way too many things that are done poorly or sloppily for me to have any confidence in the launch. It might be a fun game 6 months from now, but I ain't spending money on this as it is.

You of all people should know better. Using beta for testing? that's crazytalk, beta hasn't been used for real and extensive testing of a new game since....

[tazelbain]

since... 1999.

[Slayerik]

When AoC is launched, we're gonna party like it's 1999.

And by party I mean sit at some authentication screen.

Or crash hundreds of times.

Or something witty.

[HaemishM]

You of all people should know better. Using beta for testing? that's crazytalk, beta hasn't been used for real and extensive testing of a new game since....

I am the eternal rage-filled optimist.

[Signe]

I wonder how many people aren't going to play this game simply because it's so fucking huge.  I don't think Righ will play.  He uses a laptop to game and won't want to spare the space.  I have a lot of games on my computer and the size of this monstrosity just pisses me off... but I bought it so I'll play.  Maybe the launch day miracle patch will make it 1/4 of the size it is, which will make it about the size of other big MMOs.  I bet I have a hard time even giving away those buddy passes!  It would be nice if I could use them for myself!

[Nebu]

Maybe the launch day miracle patch will make it 1/4 of the size it is, which will make it about the size of other big MMOs.

Every MMO released to date has made good on their release day promises.  I expect Funcom will as well.

[schild]

GAME WIRE: More Than 1 Million People Sign Up For The Age of Conan Beta

omg i just signed up and that went out. was i number 1 million
d
do i get a prize?

[Mrbloodworth]

Maybe the launch day miracle patch will make it 1/4 of the size it is, which will make it about the size of other big MMOs.

Every MMO released to date has made good on their release day promises.  I expect Funcom will as well.

lol

[Signe]

GAME WIRE: More Than 1 Million People Sign Up For The Age of Conan Beta

omg i just signed up and that went out. was i number 1 million
d
do i get a prize?

Yay!  You get the booby prize!

[Nebu]

do i get a prize?

Yes, many GB of crap to bog down your HD.  Enjoy!


<Bah... beaten to the punch by Hello Kitty!>

[Montague]

The wife just said we'd be preordering. 

Some of our WoW guildmates are switching over and she wants to play and chat with them. We had just gotten off the WoW treadmill, something tells me we'll be back paying Blizzard inside of 3 months.

[Miasma]

I wonder how many people aren't going to play this game simply because it's so fucking huge.  I don't think Righ will play.  He uses a laptop to game and won't want to spare the space.  I have a lot of games on my computer and the size of this monstrosity just pisses me off... but I bought it so I'll play.  Maybe the launch day miracle patch will make it 1/4 of the size it is, which will make it about the size of other big MMOs.  I bet I have a hard time even giving away those buddy passes!  It would be nice if I could use them for myself!

I just finished the head start install and it is 24 gigs.  I think that's the same number as Vanguard which would be a bad omen...

The wife just said we'd be preordering. 

Some of our WoW guildmates are switching over and she wants to play and chat with them. We had just gotten off the WoW treadmill, something tells me we'll be back paying Blizzard inside of 3 months.

Some of the most entertaining moments will be the WoW people who have never had to play another MMO being stunned and amazed at all the broken code, unpolished bits and horrible problems that exist in other games .

Non Sequitur:  Is anyone else getting a bright gray quote box when they hit the preview button?

[Sir T]

I read somewhere that they lead developer said hes a fan of EVE.

Well that pretty much finishes that... 

[KallDrexx]

lol.  The AoC forums are blowing up about how funcom lied to them about siege sizes and they want larger than 48x48.

It's hilarious because I bet less than 1% of the players will be able to handle 48x48 with more than 2fps.  But we must wield pitchforks and cry regardless 

[schild]

Just another pack of internet tards.

[Dtrain]

Pre-release forum tards are a special vintage of internet tard though.

Those representing Vanguard were a particularly delicious shade of fail.

[Lakov_Sanite]

lol.  The AoC forums are blowing up about how funcom lied to them about siege sizes and they want larger than 48x48.

It's hilarious because I bet less than 1% of the players will be able to handle 48x48 with more than 2fps.  But we must wield pitchforks and cry regardless 

20v20 is probably unplayable on most machines.

[Nerf]

Anyone screaming 48v48 isn't enough has obviously never been in a big MMO fight, but if they want they can recreate it by doing group vs. group on a 2400 baud modem.

[LC]

It's amazing how many people keep buying these awful games just because they are new.

[HRose]

In DAoC I surely saw bigger battles than 48vs48, and they were playable. About 4 years ago and with an isdn connection.

In WoW battles bigger than that would also be playable, without even any LOD to reduce the detail.

Of course it's a matter of developing the technology to support large scale battles or small scale ones, and from what I've seen AoC doesn't seem suited for large scale ones.

It's still possible to do that though.

[schild]

Took roughly 4 hours to grab. Gonna make the AOC forum now before I forget. Lulz, let's see if it lasts a month.

[Ratadm]

Some of the most entertaining moments will be the WoW people who have never had to play another MMO being stunned and amazed at all the broken code, unpolished bits and horrible problems that exist in other games .

Those players didn't play the same wow I did.  The wow I remember had massive problems with lag and server stability right up until the tbc server upgrades.

[Miasma]

How are they going to enforce 48v48 if the border kingdom is a big zone with everyone in it?  Are they going to remove the keep from the map during a siege and force everyone involved into an instance?

[caladein]

Took roughly 4 hours to grab. Gonna make the AOC forum now before I forget. Lulz, let's see if it lasts a month.

PotBS forum is still going strong with seven topics and this game has nipples.

[Nija]

How are they going to enforce 48v48 if the border kingdom is a big zone with everyone in it?  Are they going to remove the keep from the map during a siege and force everyone involved into an instance?

They don't have a fucking clue. None of that was ever in the beta at any point.

[Falconeer]

I think that's the same number as Vanguard which would be a bad omen...

Vanguard was 17 GB. This is 7 GB of additional doom.

[lac]

First AoC LARP night:


edit: the black and white squares are what you get when the textures fail to load on characters, something that happens quite often in my beta client.

[stray]

I don't get it.

[KallDrexx]

How are they going to enforce 48v48 if the border kingdom is a big zone with everyone in it?  Are they going to remove the keep from the map during a siege and force everyone involved into an instance?

Actual sieges happen in an instance supposedly.  I think the guild + mercs that want to attack press a button that says "I wanna attack once the siege window happens."  Then defenders and attackers are put into the instance.

That's what I have gotten about it so far.

Frankly, I doubt I'll ever participate in a siege since your guild has to have the most points out of everyone who wants to attack, and I keep hearing that the siege windows are like once per week.

In DAoC I surely saw bigger battles than 48vs48, and they were playable. About 4 years ago and with an isdn connection.

I never said it wasn't possible in any MMO.  Hell even shadowbane could "handle' bigger battles.  The problem is that neither game (iirc) had this extreme requirements just to run the game in their respective launches. 

[Miasma]

WTF?

Hello everyone. We here at Funcom are extremely happy with the demand that has been for our Early Access program. That demand has been so immense, that we are now sold out! We know that several people will be unhappy to not receive their Early Access time, but please bear with us in the remaining days. So:

    * All English Early Access has sold out
    * Some Early Access still available in Germany and France
    * All Virtual items work will work on valid pre-order keys
    * Pre-orders on accounts that was later cancelled will have their keys/account disabled


Thank you and look forward to seeing you all in Hyboria very shortly!

Why the hell would early access "sell out"?  The only thing I can think of is that they are worried about the load on the servers Saturday... but then what would their plan be for actual launch day?  This is one of the weirdest things I have ever heard.

Edit: And that really screws over anyone who pre-ordered recently so that they could do the head start or only set up their info today...

[lac]

Yes, the Early Access offer was limited to a certain maximum number of registrations. Because of the incredible demand, this high limit has now already been reached today. So there are no more Early Access registrations possible.

We had to set that limit to allow the tens of thousands of registered players to download the client and get access to the game on the 17th of May.

[Falconeer]

http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=93019

Let me say that this is UNBELIEVABLE.
Yes, I am supposed to be prepared for anything and still I couldn't see this coming.

Basically, EVEN if you received your early access key (and lots of people still didn't, or just did), if you try NOW to use it then the system tells you that OH SORRY, it's too late and we can't accept early access codes anymore because our server wouldn't be able to handle it on the 17th.

So many people preordered ONLY to be able to enter 3 days earlier and they will be cut out. Worse than that. Because the early access is supposed to provide a blanket for you between the time you enter the game with the early access code and the time you phisically receive the box and create a final account with the key in the box. Without early access you don't just lose the first 3 days, but every additional day your box delivery comes late.

And this is totally unannounced and out of the blue.