I love how SOE picks their beta testers. - Page 17

MeridianR · 10-10-2006, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pronoia

Yup Khalan, I was looking forward to Ghost.

A lot of the key players in the FPS market are also well known for their 'it's ready when it's ready' policies. Guess what, they delay the games until they are ready and still sell a crapload when they release.

Maybe the thinking with MMO's is that because the game is continually changing anyway, it's OK to release a product update and fix all the broken shit in it as they go.

Pro.

When you have 7 millions subs or whatever, you can stand to piss off a bunch of people with delaying content, expansions etc....

When you have 300k subs, you tend to try to make as much fucking money as you can....as soon as you can.

It's shitty, and I wish it wasn't true....but it is.

Gage · 10-10-2006, 05:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coyote

Aaaannnnd the reason I'm here.

The fantasy world where you typed this? Oh, you mean the intraweb.

Oh and of course I have ponies, that should be common knowledge by now.

Pronoia · 10-10-2006, 05:56 PM

This thread is a fine example of what's so good about this site. Without moving to another tab I can disuss Beta invite policy, lack of polish/testing on released products and listen in on a pissing contest to boot!

I can also make gratuitous use of the word 'Fuck'.

Awesome site!

MeridianR · 10-10-2006, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pronoia

I can also make gratuitous use of the word 'Fuck'.

Awesome site!

Quoted for fucking emphasis

Illuminator · 10-10-2006, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MeridianR

When you have 300k subs, you tend to try to make as much fucking money as you can....as soon as you can.

Things are on the upswing eh?

Snark · 10-10-2006, 06:06 PM

For every subscriber they lose they make profit off station exchange. win/win

Pronoia · 10-10-2006, 06:07 PM

Not if said subscriber is European...

Dystrax · 10-10-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pronoia

Not if said subscriber is European...

SOE is working on nerfing the EU at the moment.

Shoulda tested the EU a few more years before release imo.

Gage · 10-10-2006, 06:12 PM

To be honest, when you're going against a huge game like WoW any sub numbers will be seen as small and unsuccessful.

What you have to look at is twofold though:

Pre WoW EQ2 would've been a "success". Compared to most other MMOs EQ2 is doing well as far as sub numbers go.

All Access passes. SOE, at least imho, are looking to saturate the market by offering a lot of different games for one price. Look at the acquisition of Vanguard as an example. Instead of cannibalizing themselves they're now limiting the amount of subs that can go somewhere outside of SOE.

So now if/when people leave EQ/EQ2 for Vanguard, SOE doesn't really lose revenue. If people leave WoW for Vanguard, they gain revenue.

Its about the smartest approach they can take in a market that is pretty saturated and features a lot of smaller/inexperienced dev houses trying to put out MMOs.

Its unrealistic to think they'd be able to compete against WoW 1v1, especially considering Blizzards dominance in Asian countries.

With the all access pass they can at least retain some sub revenue if people leave one of thier games for another on the pass.

So I think you'll see SOE starting to publish more games and add them to the pass, rather than trying to compete against WoW with just a single game.

LFG · 10-10-2006, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snark

I am well aware of how SOE currently conducts Beta because I have participated and provided feedback and reported countless bugs in every beta (always admittedly on an auxillary account).

My point was that SOE's approach to beta testing is markedly unprofessional and would benefit with significantly more focus and less random participation selection. Hopefully, this would result in less beta testing/encounter tweaking in Live well after the money has left our bank accounts.

You say that, in actuality, world firsts are meaningless. You couldn't be more wrong. SOE spends an enormous amount of resources to make server-firsts of paramount importance. Server messages, eq2player databases, congratulating players on forums just to list a few.

When you test a game in its implementation, you narrow your focus as much as possible. Be it hitting the map key as fast as you can to cause a crash, or trying an encounter over and over, repetition is the cornerstone of any successful Beta.

Beta was supposed to start nearly 2 months ago, as promised. I am sick and tired of playing unfinished content after paying full price for a software release, and sony should feel ashamed for such a low-brow practice in an industry where standards can make or break a company.

It is obvious when SOE releases content before it is fully tested that they are putting things before the consumer. With that said, it's pretty impossible to blame them for that, because for a game to continue to exist there has to be a compromise, and probably unmoveable deadlines from overhead. But I guess those are just inevitable outcomes of a game release which essentially represents a percentage value to a behemoth organization. I recognize and applaud the devs for putting their heart and soul into this game, so don't argue that with me. That is irrelevant to my point.

SOE needs to realize they have 1 month to deliver a product which, without a level increase, must deliver more than anything they have previously released. They need to create and contact focus groups that grind out similar content and provide overwhelming and detailed feedback. This includes soloers from 1-70, this includes crafters (can you remember all the broken weaponsmith combines in t6 after release, all of which were reported by ixnay in beta), small groups, groups, and x2/x4 raids. Raids which focus on ONE zone. ONE mob.

Not everything.

In my opinon, this is the best written, most truthful and powerful reply that I've read on any message board about anything in over a week.

Notice how he distilled the essense of this entire thread and then replied to the entire subject in a single message, without getting side tracked by yer mama jokes, referring to his manhood, calling anyone gay, or even using a single profane expletive.

I'll admit bias because I completely agree with everything he said above, but I also give this post my Admin's Gold Star of Flaming Excellence, and hereby add this to my collection of favorite posts in the Admin section.