Age of Destiny Beta [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Piccolo

11-01-2011, 04:33 PM

Did all the Beta invites go out? Is Beta testing being down now?

Nrgy

11-01-2011, 04:45 PM

<cite>Piccolo@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>Did all the Beta invites go out? Is Beta testing being down now?</blockquote>Beta is currently being DONE by Friends & Family. It will open to FF and applications later on.

Piccolo

11-01-2011, 05:30 PM

Thank you for the information.I'm still praying that i get picked! <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/ed515dbff23a0ee3241dcc0a601c9ed6.gif" border="0" />

acctlc

11-02-2011, 06:51 AM

Don't pray..there's not enough to this xpac release to warrant that <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

therealnakorox

11-05-2011, 03:30 PM

It is my understanding that "EVERYONE" that signed up is getting into the beta and that the date people will get in will be announced on Tuesday.There will be other very important announcements on Tuesday as well...

Asif

11-05-2011, 07:23 PM

Well i hope you get in <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />For me this is the first time i have not applied as i have little interest in AOD other than the Freeport revamp, where 6/7 of my toons live.

Piccolo

11-08-2011, 09:33 PM

<cite>therealnakorox wrote:</cite><blockquote>It is my understanding that "EVERYONE" that signed up is getting into the beta and that the date people will get in will be announced on Tuesday.There will be other very important announcements on Tuesday as well...</blockquote>As in today, Tuesday?

Mermut

11-08-2011, 10:18 PM

As in some Tuesday that may ore may not be today, or next Tuesday, or Tuesday as calculated by the gregorian calendar, in this universe or another <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

ObsidianNightmare

11-09-2011, 01:16 AM

<cite>Mermut wrote:</cite><blockquote>As in some Tuesday that may ore may not be today, or next Tuesday, or Tuesday as calculated by the gregorian calendar, in this universe or another <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>When will then be now?

MadGiggler

11-09-2011, 02:04 AM

<cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Mermut wrote:</cite><blockquote>As in some Tuesday that may ore may not be today, or next Tuesday, or Tuesday as calculated by the gregorian calendar, in this universe or another <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>When will then be now?</blockquote>later, ofcourse.

Yunay

11-09-2011, 05:05 AM

Its wednesday now ... and still no mail for beta *argl*

Onorem

11-09-2011, 05:15 AM

<cite>MadGiggler wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Mermut wrote:</cite><blockquote>As in some Tuesday that may ore may not be today, or next Tuesday, or Tuesday as calculated by the gregorian calendar, in this universe or another <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>When will then be now?</blockquote>later, ofcourse.</blockquote>The correct answer was 'soon'. /quotefail

Tyrus Dracofire

11-09-2011, 07:02 AM

what SOE did was so unethical, i have never seen this bad when is so close to release date that we dont know or confirmed, still no news for pre-ordered.

ObsidianNightmare

11-09-2011, 11:12 AM

<cite>Onorem wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>MadGiggler wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Mermut wrote:</cite><blockquote>As in some Tuesday that may ore may not be today, or next Tuesday, or Tuesday as calculated by the gregorian calendar, in this universe or another <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>When will then be now?</blockquote>later, ofcourse.</blockquote>The correct answer was 'soon'. /quotefail</blockquote><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/cryosynth/LLaP.jpg" width="500" height="313" />

Pewtriid

11-09-2011, 11:56 AM

You know, it causes one to wonder about a great many things concerning this "expansion"....It's been close to two weeks since the (closed) beta started, they failed to mention that it was friends and family at first, and the statement that hey don't wanna open it to others until it's stable (from a post on the forums here....not sure who it was, nor if it is more than speculation), the severe lack of detailed information, the total silence about ANYTHING about it....the list goes on.If it isn't stable enough now to allow an "open" beta, how in the world is it going to be stable in time for a release THIS YEAR? I'm not hating on SOE, I'm just concerned that this is going to be a sad, broken launch. Add fail to that as well. Come on, at least tell us WHEN others get to participate in beta!

feldon30

11-09-2011, 06:22 PM

<cite>Pewtriid wrote:</cite><blockquote>You know, it causes one to wonder about a great many things concerning this "expansion"....It's been close to two weeks since the (closed) beta started, they failed to mention that it was friends and family at first</blockquote>I saw it on Domino's Twitter feed, otherwise I wouldn't have known what was going on.

Vlahkmaak

11-09-2011, 08:48 PM

Four day weekend and still no BETA invite,......, /sadpanda.

Tyrus Dracofire

11-09-2011, 08:50 PM

Friends and family??? that not good enough for testing.either they are brown-nosed or seek to cover up some exploits til it get released and raking in alot before it get discovered and shut down for hotfix so they get ahead of playing field.not a good call, SOE.where is pre-order announcement? what go with both editions for hard copy and digital?

Catria

11-09-2011, 11:03 PM

Domino tweeted just a couple hours ago that more beta invites will be going out later this week.

Pewtriid

11-10-2011, 12:00 AM

<cite>Lyssia@The Bazaar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Domino tweeted just a couple hours ago that more beta invites will be going out later this week.</blockquote>OF course, that makes me wonder if maybe some MORE "friends and family" decided they wanted in to find the exploits help test before the player-base gets a chance to find all the bugs. Then again, maybe, just MAYBE, they're going to actually "invite" those that have APPLIED to the beta. (I think I'm starting to become a bit cynical towards this whole mess....what do you think?)

Rocc

11-10-2011, 01:12 AM

AGE OF DISCOVERY-not-AGE OF DESTINY

Pewtriid

11-10-2011, 01:15 AM

<cite>Chanzoon@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>AGE OF DISCOVERY-not-AGE OF DESTINY</blockquote>Oh, man! I didn't even notice that! Now I feel bad <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I had a happy, now I has a sad. Oh, well! I'm over it.BTW, good catch

Rocc

11-10-2011, 01:21 AM

Dont worry... it's soon to be named AGE OF EQ2 DEATH.

feldon30

11-10-2011, 05:07 AM

<cite>Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Friends and family??? that not good enough for testing.</blockquote>You don't know who Friends and Family consists of in this case. It's not just SOE employees and their friends. I know some who are in Beta and I have confidence.Anyway, in past betas, they didn't turn on most of the features until after they start bringing in other people, so the Friends and Family beta is probably only testing a few things.

Shaolin Sam

11-10-2011, 12:28 PM

I got my beta invite but deleted the email. It's really not worth the effort imo. It'll be on Live to Test soon enough.

Yimway

11-10-2011, 12:52 PM

Good luck discovering all the content in 'Age of Discovery'.

Absynthia

11-10-2011, 01:00 PM

Tickles, the excited halfling, waits by her mailbox...crossing her fingers and furrytoes that today will be the day.

Kenazeer

11-10-2011, 01:22 PM

<cite>Lyssia@The Bazaar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Domino tweeted just a couple hours ago that more beta invites will be going out later this week.</blockquote>Can I ask the obvious questions here?Since this is the second time that information relevant to the game has gone out over a twitter feed...Are we, as paying customers, not worthy of at least a single freaking post on the boards with the information?

Kunaak

11-10-2011, 01:50 PM

originally when you signed up for beta, you saw that it ended mid november.if you sign up today, you see the beta ends end of november.unless they are launching on the same day beta ends, I am wondering if AoD just got bumped back.

ObsidianNightmare

11-10-2011, 02:01 PM

<cite>Kenazeer wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Lyssia@The Bazaar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Domino tweeted just a couple hours ago that more beta invites will be going out later this week.</blockquote>Can I ask the obvious questions here?Since this is the second time that information relevant to the game has gone out over a twitter feed...Are we, as paying customers, not worthy of at least a single freaking post on the boards with the information?</blockquote>Relanvant game information should be updated in official channels first (forum/main site news) and then those feeds should filter out from that official post. There are applications that handle this sort of updating from a single point of entry. Obviously SOE has not implemented them and the staff is too lazy busy to update all channels at once.Disadvantage to the userbase

Shaolin Sam

11-10-2011, 02:55 PM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote>Good luck discovering all the content in 'Age of Discovery'.</blockquote>There isn't going to be any content released with that I thought?Just some more AA's (25? LOL), unlocking the Beastlord character slot, DYOD (not really content, imho), Mercenary NPCs to shore up the very small overall playerbase and... I think that's it right?I consider content to be like... new zones / areas / etc to explore. New cities and towns with new npcs and quests. Etc.I honestly don't really think that (personal opinion only) missing the Beta will really be missing content.Again... just an opinion though.

Rocc

11-10-2011, 03:21 PM

Relevant? Whats relevant is Skrim launching tomorrow. Too bad it's not an MMO. Man, could you imagine the timing of an MMO like that right now? EQ2 - old, Rift - old, WoW - old, every major mmo is old and players are begging for something new. Skrim would have been the biggest and most profitable mmo in history. Shame.Timing the beta with Skrim launch isnt just coincidence is it?

Banditman

11-10-2011, 03:26 PM

Firefall launches pretty soon, it's sort of a hybrid MMO / FPS.

EQPrime2

11-10-2011, 04:06 PM

<cite>feldon30 wrote:</cite><blockquote>Anyway, in past betas, they didn't turn on most of the features until after they start bringing in other people, so the Friends and Family beta is probably only testing a few things.</blockquote>That's pretty funny since there is basically nothing in this expansion anyways.

ChrisMarchant

11-11-2011, 09:08 AM

I didn't even apply for beta testing for this, but just received my email invite with links, that I didn't want!!!!!!!!!Only thing I was slightly interested in was the Freeport revamp, not interested in Beastlord, do your own dungeon, or most of the rest of it!!!!!!!So I will not be taking up my unwanted beta invite!!!!!!!!

Anestacia

11-11-2011, 01:19 PM

<cite>ChrisMarchant wrote:</cite><blockquote>I didn't even apply for beta testing for this, but just received my email invite with links, that I didn't want!!!!!!!!!Only thing I was slightly interested in was the Freeport revamp, not interested in Beastlord, do your own dungeon, or most of the rest of it!!!!!!!So I will not be taking up my unwanted beta invite!!!!!!!!</blockquote>So you got a beta invite without signing the NDA? Right.

Piccolo

11-11-2011, 11:27 PM

Have the acceptance emails been sent out from the first round of invites?

SOE-Brasse

11-12-2011, 01:42 AM

Invites went out last night for Fan Faire attendees, and Dev has said they'll start adding folks in waves as they open the Beta doors wider. There is no set schedule in place for this though, sorry!;-)#

Tyanu

11-13-2011, 02:07 PM

I've always been excited about expansions....I'm not very excited about this one =( Not much to look forward too <sigh> And not to mention the price of it...ick

Shanak85

11-14-2011, 12:07 AM

<cite>SOE-Brasse wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dev has said they'll start adding folks in waves as they open the Beta doors wider.</blockquote>So what you're saying is that those of us who haven't made it into beta are just too fat to fit through the doorways, huh?

FinalHolmes

11-14-2011, 09:00 AM

<cite>Shanak85 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>SOE-Brasse wrote:</cite><blockquote>Dev has said they'll start adding folks in waves as they open the Beta doors wider.</blockquote>So what you're saying is that those of us who haven't made it into beta are just too fat to fit through the doorways, huh?</blockquote>Not fat, we have not paid enough to get through the door, even though we have been here from 2004.....

The_Cheeseman

11-14-2011, 10:08 AM

The vast majority of beta applicants simply see the Beta as a way to catch a glimpse at new content before it is released. SOE is fully aware of this fact, which is very likely the reason why they aren't in a major hurry to toss invites into the thronging masses. Most of the actual quality feedback comes from internal testing and friends and family, people who are actually invested in the project and are able to communicate directly with the dev team. Open betas are generally most effective as stress tests and for discovering really unusual bugs that are statistically unlikely to be encountered by a small set of testers.Also, registering for a beta does not suddenly obligate SOE to notify you of any and all changes to the testing timetables. SOE will send out invites at their sole discretion, and until you receive one, the testing process really isn't any of your business. Beta access is a privilege that nobody other than Fanfaire attendees are entitled to.

feldon30

11-15-2011, 05:23 AM

<cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>the testing process really isn't any of your business.</blockquote>Considering how many critical "show-stopper" bugs were in Destiny of Velious when it launched, your post is really nonsense.

ObsidianNightmare

11-15-2011, 08:49 AM

<cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>The vast majority of beta applicants simply see the Beta as a way to catch a glimpse at new content before it is released. SOE is fully aware of this fact, which is very likely the reason why they aren't in a major hurry to toss invites into the thronging masses. Most of the actual quality feedback comes from internal testing and friends and family, people who are actually invested in the project and are able to communicate directly with the dev team. Open betas are generally most effective as stress tests and for discovering really unusual bugs that are statistically unlikely to be encountered by a small set of testers.Also, registering for a beta does not suddenly obligate SOE to notify you of any and all changes to the testing timetables. SOE will send out invites at their sole discretion, and until you receive one, the testing process really isn't any of your business. Beta access is a privilege that nobody other than Fanfaire attendees are entitled to.</blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.

FinalHolmes

11-15-2011, 09:20 AM

<cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>The vast majority of beta applicants simply see the Beta as a way to catch a glimpse at new content before it is released. SOE is fully aware of this fact, which is very likely the reason why they aren't in a major hurry to toss invites into the thronging masses. Most of the actual quality feedback comes from internal testing and friends and family, people who are actually invested in the project and are able to communicate directly with the dev team. Open betas are generally most effective as stress tests and for discovering really unusual bugs that are statistically unlikely to be encountered by a small set of testers.Also, registering for a beta does not suddenly obligate SOE to notify you of any and all changes to the testing timetables. SOE will send out invites at their sole discretion, and until you receive one, the testing process really isn't any of your business. Beta access is a privilege that nobody other than Fanfaire attendees are entitled to.</blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.</blockquote>Well said ObsidianNightmare, I would say that the majority of loyal fans would like to see if Age of Destiny is worth the money or not.

Xenxex

11-15-2011, 09:45 AM

<cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>The vast majority of beta applicants simply see the Beta as a way to catch a glimpse at new content before it is released. SOE is fully aware of this fact, which is very likely the reason why they aren't in a major hurry to toss invites into the thronging masses. Most of the actual quality feedback comes from internal testing and friends and family, people who are actually invested in the project and are able to communicate directly with the dev team. Open betas are generally most effective as stress tests and for discovering really unusual bugs that are statistically unlikely to be encountered by a small set of testers.Also, registering for a beta does not suddenly obligate SOE to notify you of any and all changes to the testing timetables. SOE will send out invites at their sole discretion, and until you receive one, the testing process really isn't any of your business. Beta access is a privilege that nobody other than Fanfaire attendees are entitled to.</blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.</blockquote>While his post may be inconsiderate, alot of valuable feedback is given during FnF. Possibly far more than when they open the flood gates. Sure a lot of "feedback" may be given when the masses is allowed in the playground, but it doesnt mean its as valuable when things are focus tested during FnF. If you rethink all of the aspects of the game in general it would make more sense than to let everyone log in and beta buff to 90.

The_Cheeseman

11-15-2011, 09:47 AM

I never said that SOE does a particularly good job testing, I just pointed out that the reason why they aren't bending over backwards to get as many folks as possible into the beta is that they know the majority of useful feedback is received from internal testing and the first week or so of beta. The effectiveness of testing is not measured by the number of people involved, especially when the vast majority of those people know very little about software development, have no real experience as testers, have little contact with the developers, and probably don't really care about testing anyway. Adding a bunch of folks to the beta who only want to play with the new toys and advance their own class-balance agendas instead of providing relevant feedback not only doesn't help much, but could actually be detrimental when useful bug reports become buried under the pile of garbage.The purpose of a beta test is not to give customers a chance to try out new content before they buy it. The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.I'd like to make it clear that I don't think these things are true of every player that applies for the beta, just the majority of them. I am also not saying that SOE does sufficient testing prior to releasing new content, I just personally don't believe that a longer beta period would be particularly helpful.

ObsidianNightmare

11-15-2011, 10:05 AM

<cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.</blockquote><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div><div><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote> The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.<div></div></blockquote></div>

The_Cheeseman

11-15-2011, 10:08 AM

<cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.</blockquote>I had no intention of belittling anybody, except those who are chastising SOE for not letting them into the beta immediately just so they could preview the new features. I simply said that the majority of people who sign up for beta testing either don't care to, or aren't capable of providing useful feedback. Out of all beta participants, I expect that Fanfaire attendees would actually be the most competent, since they are obviously heavily invested in the game and have made an effort to communicate directly with the development team. This is very likely the main reason why Fanfaire attendees are given priority access to the beta.If you are a devoted EQ2 fan who has a real interest in testing and ensuring the quality of the upcoming release, than I have the utmost respect for you. On the other hand, I have no interest in being considerate toward people who complain about SOE's testing procedures while not having any real interest in actually testing anything.

ObsidianNightmare

11-15-2011, 10:20 AM

<cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.</blockquote>I had no intention of belittling anybody, except those who are chastising SOE for not letting them into the beta immediately just so they could preview the new features. I simply said that the majority of people who sign up for beta testing either don't care to, or aren't capable of providing useful feedback. Out of all beta participants, I expect that Fanfaire attendees would actually be the most competent, since they are obviously heavily invested in the game and have made an effort to communicate directly with the development team. This is very likely the main reason why Fanfaire attendees are given priority access to the beta.If you are a devoted EQ2 fan who has a real interest in testing and ensuring the quality of the upcoming release, than I have the utmost respect for you. On the other hand, I have no interest in being considerate toward people who complain about SOE's testing procedures while not having any real interest in actually testing anything.</blockquote>The perception now is that the devs/qa team have little interest in their own testing procedures. So where do we stand? I thnk we are at the point where people would like to get to beta to see how much their playtime will be crippled with bugs that do not get fixed. I have more sympathy for those that report ad-neasum the bugs with this game and less respect for the internal teams that let them go.There's a post in here about pet agro that's been broken across all pet classes for quite a while. Is this addressed/fixed in beta? This is just one example of various ONGOING bugs...We won't know until it's too late because when the majority of us get to a closed beta, it will be a week before any possible open beta pre-launch which is the stress test. It's very clear the beta will be a small window unless things get pushed back further. Small beta window + little showing of care to detail from dev/qa team = loss of confidence in product. Don't like it? dont buy it! Sure.. But, it's not easy to separate from those dollars and time spent in a product we've enjoyed all these years. What many of us expect is a re-showing of respect from the recipient of our money. In all the world's current events, it's pretty clear that we will see little of that.

Piccolo

11-15-2011, 02:37 PM

confirmation emails go out yet?

Onorem

11-15-2011, 03:07 PM

<cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>I never said that SOE does a particularly good job testing, I just pointed out that the reason why they aren't bending over backwards to get as many folks as possible into the beta is that they know the majority of useful feedback is received from internal testing and the first week or so of beta. The effectiveness of testing is not measured by the number of people involved, especially when the vast majority of those people know very little about software development, have no real experience as testers, have little contact with the developers, and probably don't really care about testing anyway. Adding a bunch of folks to the beta who only want to play with the new toys and advance their own class-balance agendas instead of providing relevant feedback not only doesn't help much, but could actually be detrimental when useful bug reports become buried under the pile of garbage.The purpose of a beta test is not to give customers a chance to try out new content before they buy it. The purpose of a beta is to make sure that content is working properly.I'd like to make it clear that I don't think these things are true of every player that applies for the beta, just the majority of them. I am also not saying that SOE does sufficient testing prior to releasing new content, I just personally don't believe that a longer beta period would be particularly helpful.</blockquote>If previous launches are based on the useful feedback of FnF, then I don't put much stock in the FnF stage. How horrible was DoV before they let us unwashed masses in to feedback what was broken so they could ignore it? It still isn't fixed and we're getting a new expansion.It's hard to determine how many people want beta for a preview and how many want to help. I've been about 50/50 for the few I've been in. The first half, I try to help. The second half, I accept the fact that my input is being ignored so I might as well see what I can see or play on live.

Loendar

11-15-2011, 05:38 PM

<cite>Piccolo@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>confirmation emails go out yet?</blockquote>Not to me.Strangely, I can now see the Beta forums at the top of my list (which I couldn't until today) but I can't actually enter them.It is like they are taunting me. <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

Kryvak

11-15-2011, 07:01 PM

<cite>Loendar@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Piccolo@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>confirmation emails go out yet?</blockquote>Not to me.Strangely, I can now see the Beta forums at the top of my list (which I couldn't until today) but I can't actually enter them.It is like they are taunting me. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>Same here.

Valdaglerion

11-15-2011, 07:35 PM

Fan Faire is only one mechanism by which feedback is received and only one output by which information is given.As an aside here, the most interesting "future" thing being talked about by SmokeJumper, which to his credit - no other sr prod since Gallanite even wanted to broach, are in-game polls.The EQ2 dev team keeps taking hit after hit because development time and resources are being spent on things the players dont necessary want or need. If SmokeJumper implements the polls well, opens lines of communication with his player base and structures development accordingly it could mean a lot of good will between the SOE EQ2 team and the player community because development would be reflective of the players desires.What does that really mean though? There is a cash infusion which occurs from expansions which is historically been about annually. He has mentioned they are comitted to free content updates around the DoV expansion into 2013. Does this mean there will not be an expansion in 2012 but only free content to those who have purchased DoV? Or can we expect a shift in expansions to be focused on mechanics and primarily major fixes now with content being the "free" thing?Is everyone ready to change their mode of thinking to pay for mechanics fixes over content? Someone mentioned the "ongoing bugs" . . . what if those are fixed in xpacs instead of getting new content?

Lcneed

11-15-2011, 07:43 PM

<cite>Loendar@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Piccolo@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote>confirmation emails go out yet?</blockquote>Not to me.Strangely, I can now see the Beta forums at the top of my list (which I couldn't until today) but I can't actually enter them.It is like they are taunting me. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" /></blockquote>I see it and when I click it, it takes me to the EQ2X forums! Maybe they are going to use Freeport to beta test AoD? :p

Gaealiege

11-16-2011, 01:42 AM

Well just to throw out some facts here...friends and family dropped the ball on Velious.And I was in beta for Velious. There are massive glaring issues that were reported over and over by myself and many others that went months live without fixes.Most of the time I get the feeling that beta actually is primarily a preview. I sure as hell didn't see much changes from the feedback I gave.

feldon30

11-16-2011, 03:34 AM

<cite>Artemiz@The Bazaar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Fan Faire is only one mechanism by which feedback is received and only one output by which information is given.As an aside here, the most interesting "future" thing being talked about by SmokeJumper, which to his credit - no other sr prod since Gallanite even wanted to broach, are in-game polls.</blockquote>Well whenever a forum discussion gets particularly cantankerous, someone inevitably comes in and says "Well most players (95%+?) don't read or post on the forums." It's true that after the F2P stuff, I saw lots of questions in 1-9 chat that would have been answered by even the most cursory read of EverQuest2.com or the forums.So I guess we'll find out how many people respond to the in-game polls. Hopefully the results are made available.

Felshades

11-16-2011, 06:36 AM

<cite>Cavius@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>ObsidianNightmare wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>The_Cheeseman wrote:</cite><blockquote>The vast majority of beta applicants simply see the Beta as a way to catch a glimpse at new content before it is released. SOE is fully aware of this fact, which is very likely the reason why they aren't in a major hurry to toss invites into the thronging masses. Most of the actual quality feedback comes from internal testing and friends and family, people who are actually invested in the project and are able to communicate directly with the dev team. Open betas are generally most effective as stress tests and for discovering really unusual bugs that are statistically unlikely to be encountered by a small set of testers.Also, registering for a beta does not suddenly obligate SOE to notify you of any and all changes to the testing timetables. SOE will send out invites at their sole discretion, and until you receive one, the testing process really isn't any of your business. Beta access is a privilege that nobody other than Fanfaire attendees are entitled to.</blockquote>What if I was really a big fan, wanted to go to fan faire but couldn't because say.. of a death in the family. Yet I've shelled out over 1000 dollars to this company over time to play their game. I guess my vested interests are by default not important and the beta is none of my business.You post is fracking inconsiderate. And to top it off you also belittle the interests of those that went to fan faire and categorize them as people who would give no interest in giving constructive feedback and just want to oogle at the punitive offerings of this upcoming product. It's been shown that the secret test forum is a wasteland that no one really gives a frack about so what is the point of a friends and family beta test if it is just going to amount to what DoV came out with and what happend time and agian with game breaking updates.</blockquote>Well said ObsidianNightmare, I would say that the majority of loyal fans would like to see if Age of Destiny is worth the money or not.</blockquote>From what I've heard, unless you want to play a beast lord, it's not worth the 40 bucks(that I can't afford to spend anyways).That noted, Blizzard just announced a one year commitment to a subscription(you dont even have to pay all at once.. .you can sign up for a monthly sub as normal and just pay 12 months worth contiguous) and they're tossing in Diablo 3 free, and a guaranteed invite to the next expansion beta.I'd think SoE could do something like that.

Maroger

11-16-2011, 11:47 AM

<cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well just to throw out some facts here...friends and family dropped the ball on Velious.And I was in beta for Velious. There are massive glaring issues that were reported over and over by myself and many others that went months live without fixes.Most of the time I get the feeling that beta actually is primarily a preview. I sure as hell didn't see much changes from the feedback I gave.</blockquote>Family and friends is way for SOE to reward their WEALTHY customers. After all going to Fan Faire is NOT cheap. SOE should really stop reward the wealthy so much and make beta acceptance based NOT on wether you can afford the expense of fan faire - but on how well you have tested over time and the reports you have sent in as a testers. The Wealthy are rewarded too much by SOE which created a two-tier system in terms of beta - those that have money to spend on Fan Faire and those that don't.Your attendance at FAN FAIRE should have no special meaning other than the gifts you are give at the event itself.

sorie67

11-16-2011, 12:44 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well just to throw out some facts here...friends and family dropped the ball on Velious.And I was in beta for Velious. There are massive glaring issues that were reported over and over by myself and many others that went months live without fixes.Most of the time I get the feeling that beta actually is primarily a preview. I sure as hell didn't see much changes from the feedback I gave.</blockquote>Family and friends is way for SOE to reward their WEALTHY customers. After all going to Fan Faire is NOT cheap. SOE should really stop reward the wealthy so much and make beta acceptance based NOT on wether you can afford the expense of fan faire - but on how well you have tested over time and the reports you have sent in as a testers. The Wealthy are rewarded too much by SOE which created a two-tier system in terms of beta - those that have money to spend on Fan Faire and those that don't.Your attendance at FAN FAIRE should have no special meaning other than the gifts you are give at the event itself.</blockquote>I totally agree but what can you do about it? Nothing. Cause your right testing should go by how well the person test the product not that they paid to get in and check it out. That all it is they paid to get into beta by buying a ticket to the fanfaire.

Cyliena

11-16-2011, 02:05 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>Family and friends is way for SOE to reward their WEALTHY customers. After all going to Fan Faire is NOT cheap. SOE should really stop reward the wealthy so much and make beta acceptance based NOT on wether you can afford the expense of fan faire - but on how well you have tested over time and the reports you have sent in as a testers. The Wealthy are rewarded too much by SOE which created a two-tier system in terms of beta - those that have money to spend on Fan Faire and those that don't.Your attendance at FAN FAIRE should have no special meaning other than the gifts you are give at the event itself.</blockquote>I'm far from wealthy but have attended the last 3 Fan Faires. Each one took saving up a bit from each paycheck the entire year to fund the trip. /shrug From my understanding, the friends and family stage of beta does not include Fan Faire people anyways.

Valdaglerion

11-16-2011, 04:13 PM

<cite>feldon30 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Artemiz@The Bazaar wrote:</cite><blockquote>Fan Faire is only one mechanism by which feedback is received and only one output by which information is given.As an aside here, the most interesting "future" thing being talked about by SmokeJumper, which to his credit - no other sr prod since Gallanite even wanted to broach, are in-game polls.</blockquote>Well whenever a forum discussion gets particularly cantankerous, someone inevitably comes in and says "Well most players (95%+?) don't read or post on the forums." It's true that after the F2P stuff, I saw lots of questions in 1-9 chat that would have been answered by even the most cursory read of EverQuest2.com or the forums.So I guess we'll find out how many people respond to the in-game polls. Hopefully the results are made available.</blockquote>^^ THIS ^^Perhaps the in-game polls should be a thread unto itself. I hope Smokejumper will engage some of the player community BEFORE putting these in game.If the statistics and participants can not be counted for the conspiracy theorists will always come out of the wood work.There is a lot of pertinent information potentially in those?How many people participated in the poll?What servers and how many from each?Percentage breakdowns of participants?What percentage of the overall, active player base does this actually represent?It is my hope Smokejumper and the SOE team will make this information as transparent as possible to the player base. Making it in-game should negate many of the issues as the only people seeing it should be active players anyway since you have to log in to participate.On that note, I hope a weight is given based on subscription level. Free accounts are always a point of abuse for such things. I wonder if free accounts will be able to participate in such things...who knows. Time will tell I suppose.

feldon30

11-16-2011, 04:35 PM

Holy cow people. Here's the destructive logic I'm seeing:For Age of Discovery to be bug free, the right testers (apparently that's not anyone who went to Fan Faire cause they're all "rich slackers" who won't file useful /bug reports) have to get into Beta as early as possible, report enough bugs, and then the developers will get them fixed in time before launch.Some facts which should poke holes in those logical fallacies:<ul><li>For Destiny of Velious, the pool of Beta users seemed to be picked completely at random. Many dedicated Testers didn't get in until right at the end.</li><li>For Destiny of Velious, most of the biggest showstoppers that went live were reported 2+ weeks before the beta forums were perplexingly shut down, and 3+ weeks before the expansion launched.</li><li>Some of the best feedback (which had limited input into Velious) came from Fan Faire attendees.</li></ul><ul><li>For Age of Discovery, the first group into Beta after employees were members of the dedicated Test forum.</li><li>The Test server is exceptionally good at tracking down issues with quests, events, crafting, graphics, and any kind of interaction between characters and NPCs. The strength of other testers might be more into mechanics, class balance, grouping, raiding, and itemization. </li><li>In order to get soloing, crafting, grouping, and raiding all properly tested requires more than one group or mindset of testers.</li></ul>Also I find it particularly offensive the idea that "only rich people go to Fan Faire". You know some people go to Florida for their vacation, or Colorado, or the beach, or whatever. Some people to go Las Vegas a certain weekend of the year because they HAVE A GOOD TIME. They see friends they know in-game, they get to ask developers questions and gasp, some of them even THANK the developers for their work. I know more than a few people who save their pennies all year to go to Fan Faire and give up a lot of things to be able to go.We'll find out soon enough if this year's Beta strategy pays dividends, but to say that one group shouldn't be invited to Beta because of some unsubstantiated perceptions comes off as jealousy.

Hennyo

11-16-2011, 05:40 PM

I just think that people are simply just getting antsy over not getting into beta with the release of the expansion so close, or at least not hearing about any random testers getting chosen, instead of just the hand picked ones. While I understand the amount of content in this beta is smaller than it has been in past beta's and that a more focused group of testers does actually make more sense. It still wears at a curious player base that wants to know more details about the expansion and also wants to hopefully squash some of the bugs and or massive imbalance issues before the AoD goes live. Many players believe, and with decent enough cause, that the hand selected beta tester method allows for skewed testing perspective.

d1anaw

11-17-2011, 02:19 AM

<cite>Hennyo wrote:</cite><blockquote>I just think that people are simply just getting antsy over not getting into beta with the release of the expansion so close, or at least not hearing about any random testers getting chosen, instead of just the hand picked ones. While I understand the amount of content in this beta is smaller than it has been in past beta's and that a more focused group of testers does actually make more sense. It still wears at a curious player base that wants to know more details about the expansion and also wants to hopefully squash some of the bugs and or massive imbalance issues before the AoD goes live. Many players believe, and with decent enough cause, that the hand selected beta tester method allows for skewed testing perspective.</blockquote>Oh whatever. We attended Fan Faire last year and were decidedly unimpressed. For the amount of money, it simply wasn't a good trade. For that reason, in spite of the fact that we actually live in LV, we chose not to waste our time and money again. I agree with the people who said that beta testing should not be tied to fan faire.

Finora

11-17-2011, 10:01 AM

And just so you know, the 'friends and family' didn't have anything to do with whether you went to Fan Faire or not. There are quite a few people who didn't go to fan faire who get invited to the early beta. There are many people who go to fan faire who have to wait until a later rounds (I've seen them complaining on the forums about not having gotten invites yet).I've yet to attend a Fan Faire and have managed to get in betas for all EQ2's previous expansions, most of them fairly early in the testing.

Vlahkmaak

11-17-2011, 01:41 PM

<cite>Hennyo wrote:</cite><blockquote>I just think that people are simply just getting antsy over not getting into beta with the release of the expansion so close, or at least not hearing about any random testers getting chosen, instead of just the hand picked ones. While I understand the amount of content in this beta is smaller than it has been in past beta's and that a more focused group of testers does actually make more sense. It still wears at a curious player base that wants to know more details about the expansion and also wants to hopefully squash some of the bugs and or massive imbalance issues before the AoD goes live. Many players believe, and with decent enough cause, that the hand selected beta tester method allows for skewed testing perspective.</blockquote>Which decent cause would that be?How will the results be skewed?

Rectale

11-17-2011, 01:54 PM

It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played.

Anestacia

11-17-2011, 03:23 PM

<cite>Rectale wrote:</cite><blockquote>It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played. </blockquote>Amen.

Maroger

11-17-2011, 04:51 PM

<cite>Rectale wrote:</cite><blockquote>It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played. </blockquote>I couldn't agree more. !!!

Gungo

11-17-2011, 07:24 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rectale wrote:</cite><blockquote>It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played. </blockquote>I couldn't agree more. !!!</blockquote>Honestly it should be given to people based on thier last years /feedback and /bugs to be more appropriate.How many bug reports did either of you two fill out last year?How many feedback reports did either of you two fill out last year?Or are you the only person playing eq2 who thinks the game is bug free and perfect the way it is?There has been only two real waves of beta invites so far. Friends and family and then fan faire attendees. I have been in every freinds and family beta so far. The secret? I met gm's, devs, and QA staff TESTING the game on the test server/ test copy server and beta servers. They litterally ask in betas and test forums for people to set up groups to test heroic zones and the QA people walk with your through zones. They ask questions and ask you to fill out feedback questionairres. They litterally ask for guilds to raid zones for focus testing. Throw in enough /feedbacks and /bug reports and they recognize your name. Do this ENOUGH and they recognize you are actually testing and they invite you to the friends and family wihout you having to come to a forum and complain that you dont get invited at random.This is not rocket science. You are not getting invited to beta because you dont test. You dont provide feedback and you dont fill out bug reports. The individuals who get invited to friends and family send ALOT of feedback and ALOT of bug reports. Many way more then me. And i still think i feedback/bug alot.When SOE does the random invites most of those people NEVER log on other then to get a free sneak peak. Honestly the worst thing games companies have ever done is make beta a marketing ploy. It ruins testing and fills the beta forums with alot of noise and little bug reports.

SOE-MOD-08

11-18-2011, 06:11 PM

This post has moved: <a href="/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=500098&post_id=5660542" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=50009...post_id=5660542</a> Trolling

Anestacia

11-18-2011, 08:54 PM

<cite>d1anaw wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rectale wrote:</cite><blockquote>It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played. </blockquote>I couldn't agree more. !!!</blockquote>Honestly it should be given to people based on thier last years /feedback and /bugs to be more appropriate.How many bug reports did either of you two fill out last year?How many feedback reports did either of you two fill out last year?Or are you the only person playing eq2 who thinks the game is bug free and perfect the way it is?There has been only two real waves of beta invites so far. Friends and family and then fan faire attendees. I have been in every freinds and family beta so far. The secret? I met gm's, devs, and QA staff TESTING the game on the test server/ test copy server and beta servers. They litterally ask in betas and test forums for people to set up groups to test heroic zones and the QA people walk with your through zones. They ask questions and ask you to fill out feedback questionairres. They litterally ask for guilds to raid zones for focus testing. Throw in enough /feedbacks and /bug reports and they recognize your name. Do this ENOUGH and they recognize you are actually testing and they invite you to the friends and family wihout you having to come to a forum and complain that you dont get invited at random.This is not rocket science. You are not getting invited to beta because you dont test. You dont provide feedback and you dont fill out bug reports. The individuals who get invited to friends and family send ALOT of feedback and ALOT of bug reports. Many way more then me. And i still think i feedback/bug alot.When SOE does the random invites most of those people NEVER log on other then to get a free sneak peak. Honestly the worst thing games companies have ever done is make beta a marketing ploy. It ruins testing and fills the beta forums with alot of noise and little bug reports. </blockquote>Spoken like the true elitist that you are. If they only want "special" people to test, then don't open up the registration to the general population. Send out personal and private invitations only. That way, the "uber" and elitists that thrive here can feel even more elitist and special and the rest of us will know we are nobodies.</blockquote>+1

SOE-MOD-08

11-18-2011, 10:39 PM

This post has moved: <a href="/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=500098&post_id=5660619" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">/eq2/posts/preList.m?topic_id=50009...post_id=5660619</a> Trolling

Merlinofcamelot

11-19-2011, 12:04 AM

<cite>sorie67 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well just to throw out some facts here...friends and family dropped the ball on Velious.And I was in beta for Velious. There are massive glaring issues that were reported over and over by myself and many others that went months live without fixes.Most of the time I get the feeling that beta actually is primarily a preview. I sure as hell didn't see much changes from the feedback I gave.</blockquote>Family and friends is way for SOE to reward their WEALTHY customers. After all going to Fan Faire is NOT cheap. SOE should really stop reward the wealthy so much and make beta acceptance based NOT on wether you can afford the expense of fan faire - but on how well you have tested over time and the reports you have sent in as a testers. The Wealthy are rewarded too much by SOE which created a two-tier system in terms of beta - those that have money to spend on Fan Faire and those that don't.Your attendance at FAN FAIRE should have no special meaning other than the gifts you are give at the event itself.</blockquote>I totally agree but what can you do about it? Nothing. Cause your right testing should go by how well the person test the product not that they paid to get in and check it out. That all it is they paid to get into beta by buying a ticket to the fanfaire.</blockquote>Just some information... You don't have to "GO TO" Fanfaire, you just need to buy the pass. Which if it is that important that you get into to the beta a week or two earlier than some of the others seems reasonable.Some people did pay for Fanfaire because it included the EQ/EQ2 Xpacs and garaunteed entrance into beta, so it was a selling point not an afterthought.I went to Fanfaire. I believe SOE takes a loss or at best breaks even on the actual event. When you figure out the value of what SOE is giving you it is significantly more than they are charging. The dinners, the party, the goodie bags, the prizes, the software ($100 which everyone going would have paid for because their the ones that love the games enough to go...duh). Then throw in the expenses of paying the employees...both for their time and travel expenses...the cost of the hall itself... No way they directly make a profit off Fanfaire. They make their money back from Fanfaire during the rest of the year.I do not think that anyone that has to travel far enough that they need to spend the night(s) in a hotel is saving any money vs just paying for the items and avoiding the travel expenses either.With all complaints I have about SOE and EQ/EQ2 I do not have any complaints about the way they handle Fanfaire...

Crismorn

11-19-2011, 03:24 AM

Apprently advocating for people who play eq2 more then others and have a better understanding of game mechanics to be included in the beta process is trolling, good to know. Keep up the good work mods, I would hate for someone else to make that same mistake....

d1anaw

11-19-2011, 02:01 PM

<cite>Merlinofcamelot@Oasis wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>sorie67 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well just to throw out some facts here...friends and family dropped the ball on Velious.And I was in beta for Velious. There are massive glaring issues that were reported over and over by myself and many others that went months live without fixes.Most of the time I get the feeling that beta actually is primarily a preview. I sure as hell didn't see much changes from the feedback I gave.</blockquote>Family and friends is way for SOE to reward their WEALTHY customers. After all going to Fan Faire is NOT cheap. SOE should really stop reward the wealthy so much and make beta acceptance based NOT on wether you can afford the expense of fan faire - but on how well you have tested over time and the reports you have sent in as a testers. The Wealthy are rewarded too much by SOE which created a two-tier system in terms of beta - those that have money to spend on Fan Faire and those that don't.Your attendance at FAN FAIRE should have no special meaning other than the gifts you are give at the event itself.</blockquote>I totally agree but what can you do about it? Nothing. Cause your right testing should go by how well the person test the product not that they paid to get in and check it out. That all it is they paid to get into beta by buying a ticket to the fanfaire.</blockquote>Just some information... You don't have to "GO TO" Fanfaire, you just need to buy the pass. Which if it is that important that you get into to the beta a week or two earlier than some of the others seems reasonable.Some people did pay for Fanfaire because it included the EQ/EQ2 Xpacs and garaunteed entrance into beta, so it was a selling point not an afterthought.I went to Fanfaire. I believe SOE takes a loss or at best breaks even on the actual event. When you figure out the value of what SOE is giving you it is significantly more than they are charging. The dinners, the party, the goodie bags, the prizes, the software ($100 which everyone going would have paid for because their the ones that love the games enough to go...duh). Then throw in the expenses of paying the employees...both for their time and travel expenses...the cost of the hall itself... No way they directly make a profit off Fanfaire. They make their money back from Fanfaire during the rest of the year.I do not think that anyone that has to travel far enough that they need to spend the night(s) in a hotel is saving any money vs just paying for the items and avoiding the travel expenses either.With all complaints I have about SOE and EQ/EQ2 I do not have any complaints about the way they handle Fanfaire...</blockquote>Actually, I've done the calculations and no, you do not get more than you pay by going. IF all you are interested in partying, then I guess you could somewhat make the case, but you do pay extra for pretty much everything. A bottle of water for example was something like $8. With the exception of the dinner, which you can get anywhere, everything is no host. The goodie bags? Please, a tee shirt and some advertising give aways? Seriously? The time we went, they had to make my pass because somehow it didn't make it there. They didn't even bother to tell us that we needed to go to the booth to get our "goodie bags", they seemed annoyed at having to make my pass and tossed them at us and shooed us on our way, not even telling us which way to go. No one spoke to us until we went to one of the forums. Those forums were the only part about the entire experience I found pleasant. For those who have large guilds who attend, I'm sure that meeting their friends is a good experience, but then again it comes down to partying and some of us just are not into getting drunk and acting stupid. Been there, done that. The rest was a waste of our time and money. And then we still didn't get into the beta until well after it started. I guess if you aren't one of the "known" ones they don't really give a rat's behind who you are or why you are there.As I said, if only the elitist are to play beta, then why not send out private invitations. If the rest of us peons aren't worthy, don't put out a general announcement. Oh and if the whole point is simply to pay for fan faire, then how exactly is that any different than actually buying the product in the first place? If you pay for the weekend and don't go, you are out $100 plus and in return you "get" the $40 expansion.

jjlo69

11-19-2011, 06:10 PM

you know imho who cares cause AoD will probley be the same the last few GU's and if so well all be beta testers for AoD

Felshades

11-20-2011, 12:13 AM

Wait, are people still complaining about only fan faire got into beta?They just sent out a bunch more invites last night....

Felshades

11-20-2011, 12:16 AM

<cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Rectale wrote:</cite><blockquote>It's a shame that they don't invite people to beta based on their last years /played. </blockquote>I couldn't agree more. !!!</blockquote>Honestly it should be given to people based on thier last years /feedback and /bugs to be more appropriate.How many bug reports did either of you two fill out last year?How many feedback reports did either of you two fill out last year?Or are you the only person playing eq2 who thinks the game is bug free and perfect the way it is?There has been only two real waves of beta invites so far. Friends and family and then fan faire attendees. I have been in every freinds and family beta so far. The secret? I met gm's, devs, and QA staff TESTING the game on the test server/ test copy server and beta servers. They litterally ask in betas and test forums for people to set up groups to test heroic zones and the QA people walk with your through zones. They ask questions and ask you to fill out feedback questionairres. They litterally ask for guilds to raid zones for focus testing. Throw in enough /feedbacks and /bug reports and they recognize your name. Do this ENOUGH and they recognize you are actually testing and they invite you to the friends and family wihout you having to come to a forum and complain that you dont get invited at random.This is not rocket science. You are not getting invited to beta because you dont test. You dont provide feedback and you dont fill out bug reports. The individuals who get invited to friends and family send ALOT of feedback and ALOT of bug reports. Many way more then me. And i still think i feedback/bug alot.When SOE does the random invites most of those people NEVER log on other then to get a free sneak peak. Honestly the worst thing games companies have ever done is make beta a marketing ploy. It ruins testing and fills the beta forums with alot of noise and little bug reports. </blockquote>Gonna go ahead and note that not just those that feedback and stuff get in.Maybe on the friends and family beta, but I've been in two expansion betas and I sent in minimal feedback. Few bugs on Live, and I never actually participated in the TSO beta that I got invited to.

Tyrus Dracofire

11-20-2011, 05:45 AM

2 days left til Nov 22, not one invite to beta since i got email, this is SOE's biggest hoax! maybe possible a scam.now that make me very mad.i had never seen this business decisions like this in past, we get no hard copy edition, it all just digital and overpriced.other raiding guilds are losing core members and shift of new leaders.now it is lot harder to get "PUGs" for any heroic zones, lot more ghost town, mercenaries are way too late.many players are just beginning to return to solo play games, most got fed up with hardmode scripts or odd fight tactics, only a few players likes.i also got tired of same raid zones in DoV for over 7 months and still not able to progress to hardmode since we keep losing members and get new members gear up and that is getting old.

Felshades

11-20-2011, 05:56 AM

<cite>Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>2 days left til Nov 22, not one invite to beta since i got email, this is SOE's biggest hoax! maybe possible a scam.now that make me very mad.i had never seen this business decisions like this in past, we get no hard copy edition, it all just digital and overpriced.other raiding guilds are losing core members and shift of new leaders.now it is lot harder to get "PUGs" for any heroic zones, lot more ghost town, mercenaries are way too late.many players are just beginning to return to solo play games, most got fed up with hardmode scripts or odd fight tactics, only a few players likes.i also got tired of same raid zones in DoV for over 7 months and still not able to progress to hardmode since we keep losing members and get new members gear up and that is getting old.</blockquote>Not a scam.There are people that have gotten invites.

feldon30

11-20-2011, 09:44 AM

<cite>Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>2 days left til Nov 22, not one invite to beta since i got email, this is SOE's biggest hoax! maybe possible a scam.now that make me very mad.i had never seen this business decisions like this in past, we get no hard copy edition, it all just digital and overpriced.other raiding guilds are losing core members and shift of new leaders.now it is lot harder to get "PUGs" for any heroic zones, lot more ghost town, mercenaries are way too late.many players are just beginning to return to solo play games, most got fed up with hardmode scripts or odd fight tactics, only a few players likes.i also got tired of same raid zones in DoV for over 7 months and still not able to progress to hardmode since we keep losing members and get new members gear up and that is getting old.</blockquote>Nothing in Beta is going to change any of the problems you are talking about.

Mezaka

11-20-2011, 11:20 AM

<cite>feldon30 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Tyrus@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>2 days left til Nov 22, not one invite to beta since i got email, this is SOE's biggest hoax! maybe possible a scam.now that make me very mad.i had never seen this business decisions like this in past, we get no hard copy edition, it all just digital and overpriced.other raiding guilds are losing core members and shift of new leaders.now it is lot harder to get "PUGs" for any heroic zones, lot more ghost town, mercenaries are way too late.many players are just beginning to return to solo play games, most got fed up with hardmode scripts or odd fight tactics, only a few players likes.i also got tired of same raid zones in DoV for over 7 months and still not able to progress to hardmode since we keep losing members and get new members gear up and that is getting old.</blockquote>Nothing in Beta is going to change any of the problems you are talking about.</blockquote>While I agree with you, Feldon, on your comment, I still think I understand where Tyrus and his frustration is coming from. It is the vagueness of communication between SoE and the public that is *really* driving people away, and let's be honest, the communication has never been the strong point of this SoE. The other factor is the perception of the paying customer - how quick are we to judge on what we know? How things are perceived any more is the key here.For example:*The first post of 'The Overlord's Return,' dated 18 Nov, has a "Want to try it now? Sign up for beta <a href="http://www.everquest2.com/news/read/102011/4091" target="_blank">here</a>." with a link to the beta registration website, which closed on 16 Nov. *When the Ruins of Kunark pre-order came out, they had stated that it didn't matter whether you ordered digital or box, you would have access to the burynai pet. When it went live, only one version actually got the pet, and the other version didn't, and it was then claimed by SoE that it was never specified that both verions would get the pet. It took many screenshots of the original website and the internet way back machine to prove otherwise.*"An increase in AA" Really, what is so hard about coming out and stating exactly how many AA's we will get? Especially in this economy, were some people have to start making difficult decisions about whether to spend the $40 on a expansion they have vague information about, or spending it on some of the newer ones coming out, or for the upcoming holidays, this really is a gamble on SoE's part.There are many other examples that I could give over the past seven years of being here, put then I'm sure this post would get banned for certain. The perception of some of the paying customer base is 'SoE doesn't really care about us because they are being very vague about this upcoming expansion and just want my money. After all, only those that paid for fan faire got in.'While this perception is not wholly true, it may just be enough to drive even more people away from this game. I personally know some veterans, who have been around since EQ2 first launched, and whom have gotten into past betas but not this one feel very slighted by this very fact and are therefore not buying the new expansion.Just my 2Cu. --Mez

Gaealiege

11-20-2011, 12:11 PM

I'm going to agree with Crismorn here. There should be many people automatically flagged and let in that are high end players. We know the mechancis, we know the structure of the game, we know every single detail of our classes. Allowing in the less knowledgable players at a much higher volume seems like madness. High end doesn't mean we won't see when the new fluff item that's a horse looks like a tangled mass. Nor does it mean we won't report it. Being unaware of mechanics does mean that an unaware player won't report it. An issue that we've had for quite some time with beta and test players.I've personally beta tested since EoF and have always been put in on the first wave. I guess I arrogantly assumed my account would be flagged showing that I tested the others and gave out tons of feedback including running through dungeons with the devs to show them what wasn't working. Silly me.

ThyMajesty

11-20-2011, 03:44 PM

^this

Felshades

11-20-2011, 06:34 PM

<cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm going to agree with Crismorn here. There should be many people automatically flagged and let in that are high end players. We know the mechancis, we know the structure of the game, we know every single detail of our classes. Allowing in the less knowledgable players at a much higher volume seems like madness. High end doesn't mean we won't see when the new fluff item that's a horse looks like a tangled mass. Nor does it mean we won't report it. Being unaware of mechanics does mean that an unaware player won't report it. An issue that we've had for quite some time with beta and test players.I've personally beta tested since EoF and have always been put in on the first wave. I guess I arrogantly assumed my account would be flagged showing that I tested the others and gave out tons of feedback including running through dungeons with the devs to show them what wasn't working. Silly me.</blockquote>There's no new high level zones, so being high level players is irrelevant.There's no character copies afaik. Just because you've tested before or sent in a ton of feedback doesn't 100% guarantee you're getting in another invite.

Anestacia

11-21-2011, 03:00 AM

<cite>Nadirah@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gaealiege@Butcherblock wrote:</cite><blockquote>I'm going to agree with Crismorn here. There should be many people automatically flagged and let in that are high end players. We know the mechancis, we know the structure of the game, we know every single detail of our classes. Allowing in the less knowledgable players at a much higher volume seems like madness. High end doesn't mean we won't see when the new fluff item that's a horse looks like a tangled mass. Nor does it mean we won't report it. Being unaware of mechanics does mean that an unaware player won't report it. An issue that we've had for quite some time with beta and test players.I've personally beta tested since EoF and have always been put in on the first wave. I guess I arrogantly assumed my account would be flagged showing that I tested the others and gave out tons of feedback including running through dungeons with the devs to show them what wasn't working. Silly me.</blockquote>There's no new high level zones, so being high level players is irrelevant.There's no character copies afaik. Just because you've tested before or sent in a ton of feedback doesn't 100% guarantee you're getting in another invite.</blockquote>And this precisely is the problem. Why would it NOT gurantee a spot if I took my own personal time away from playing the game to help fix it before? I personally have always been picked for betas as well and while I may not report as many problems as some people, I surely did my share. For me, beta is not a sneak peak. It is the small window of time that I feel like I can report the bugs and problems to help me (and many others) enjoy the game more once it does go live. I don't know why they just don't allow everyone that applied to get in anyway. The more eyes catching issues the more polished your product would be. /shrug

Marnus

11-21-2011, 11:06 AM

I dont want to sound ignorant, or naive, but is there a reason why they "don't" allow everyone who applies, into the beta? As the poster above me said, it makes sense that more "eyes" would help finding bugs/errors etc.

zeon

11-21-2011, 02:38 PM

I agree it would help and it's only testing lowend stuff not highend lvl 90 stuff. but it's up to SOE who gets in and who don't at least for a little bit EQ1 beta was fun and I wish I took the whole money from both on EQ1 and buy the CE version. it's too bad I have yet to get into beta for EQ2 AOD but I'll live and Beta be over in a week and a half if Nov. 30 is the release date.

Anestacia

11-21-2011, 03:05 PM

<cite>zeon wrote:</cite><blockquote>I agree it would help and it's only testing lowend stuff not highend lvl 90 stuff. but it's up to SOE who gets in and who don't at least for a little bit EQ1 beta was fun and I wish I took the whole money from both on EQ1 and buy the CE version. it's too bad I have yet to get into beta for EQ2 AOD but I'll live and Beta be over in a week and a half if Nov. 30 is the release date.</blockquote>They have pretty much confirmed it will NOT be November 30th. They have stated several times it would be early December. Yes, I too saw the 30th date but when I asked about it they said "Early December but no actual date as of yet."

Felshades

11-21-2011, 05:02 PM

<cite>Anestacia wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>zeon wrote:</cite><blockquote>I agree it would help and it's only testing lowend stuff not highend lvl 90 stuff. but it's up to SOE who gets in and who don't at least for a little bit EQ1 beta was fun and I wish I took the whole money from both on EQ1 and buy the CE version. it's too bad I have yet to get into beta for EQ2 AOD but I'll live and Beta be over in a week and a half if Nov. 30 is the release date.</blockquote>They have pretty much confirmed it will NOT be November 30th. They have stated several times it would be early December. Yes, I too saw the 30th date but when I asked about it they said "Early December but no actual date as of yet."</blockquote>Considering what's broke still...Setting hard dates for any beta's end date usually is a bad idea.

Felshades

11-21-2011, 05:03 PM

<cite>Marnus@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote>I dont want to sound ignorant, or naive, but is there a reason why they "don't" allow everyone who applies, into the beta? As the poster above me said, it makes sense that more "eyes" would help finding bugs/errors etc.</blockquote>Because most of the people that do get into beta aren't trying to find out what's wrong and will ignore the little things.They just want to play with new classes, new races, or figure out how to beat new dungeons and raids before everyone else.

Anestacia

11-21-2011, 05:12 PM

<cite>Nadirah@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Marnus@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote>I dont want to sound ignorant, or naive, but is there a reason why they "don't" allow everyone who applies, into the beta? As the poster above me said, it makes sense that more "eyes" would help finding bugs/errors etc.</blockquote>Because most of the people that do get into beta aren't trying to find out what's wrong and will ignore the little things.They just want to play with new classes, new races, or figure out how to beat new dungeons and raids before everyone else.</blockquote>So let them. It still means there would be more people that DO wanbt to actually test to be allowed to.

FinalHolmes

11-22-2011, 07:14 AM

Just checked my email account and read "you have been selected to test" then I realized the invite was for SWTOR.I dont think so BioWare, keep your game, come on SOE your killing your fans, change to open beta and let us in.<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="right"><tbody><tr align="center"><td align="LEFT"><a class="messageListFont" title="The Old Republic Community <[email protected]>" name="address51" href="https://www.hushmail.com/hushmail/message/messagelist/showMessageListPane.php?PHPSESSID=DB7AEB6BF26CF96F 67ACE98BE8756DC0&no_folderlist_refresh=true#"></a></td><td align="LEFT"><a class="messageListFont" title="You Have Been Selected to Test STAR WARS: The Old Republic!" name="subject51" href="https://www.hushmail.com/hushmail/message/messagelist/showMessageListPane.php?PHPSESSID=DB7AEB6BF26CF96F 67ACE98BE8756DC0&no_folderlist_refresh=true#"> </a></td></tr></tbody></table>

Ingerimm

11-22-2011, 11:17 AM

Well I think it's somehow illogical if SOE advertises a public closed beta and then allow only Fan Fair people, family and friends to the beta.But SOE is now one of the development department and needs to know itself what it does.I would have found it good if we could again participate in the beta can be treated like since the beginning of EQ2.Surely everyone wants to see what will come around to take a picture, but I think that the majority of participants may also report bugs and imbalances in order to play a nice game enhancement publishing.<div><div><div></div><div></div><div><div><div><div><div></div><div>Regards</div><div>Ingerimm of Valor</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

Raknid

11-22-2011, 11:47 AM

<cite>Cavius@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote>Just checked my email account and read "you have been selected to test" then I realized the invite was for SWTOR.I dont think so BioWare, keep your game, come on SOE your killing your fans, change to open beta and let us in.<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="right"><tbody><tr align="center"><td align="left"><a class="messageListFont" title="The Old Republic Community <[email protected]>" name="address51" href="https://www.hushmail.com/hushmail/message/messagelist/showMessageListPane.php?PHPSESSID=DB7AEB6BF26CF96F 67ACE98BE8756DC0&no_folderlist_refresh=true#"></a></td><td align="left"><a class="messageListFont" title="You Have Been Selected to Test STAR WARS: The Old Republic!" name="subject51" href="https://www.hushmail.com/hushmail/message/messagelist/showMessageListPane.php?PHPSESSID=DB7AEB6BF26CF96F 67ACE98BE8756DC0&no_folderlist_refresh=true#"></a></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote>Can you forward me your SWTOR invite? lol

Nrgy

11-22-2011, 11:48 AM

I received three (3) Beta invitations / notifications this week alone ... from SW:tOR, for what thats worth.

Raknid

11-22-2011, 11:49 AM

<cite>Ingerimm@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well I think it's somehow illogical if SOE advertises a public closed beta and then allow only Fan Fair people, family and friends to the beta.But SOE is now one of the development department and needs to know itself what it does.I would have found it good if we could again participate in the beta can be treated like since the beginning of EQ2.Surely everyone wants to see what will come around to take a picture, but I think that the majority of participants may also report bugs and imbalances in order to play a nice game enhancement publishing.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Regards</div><div>Ingerimm of Valor</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>There trying to cut down on the number of people that can say "we reported this in beta, but it still went live..." lol

Gungo

11-22-2011, 03:24 PM

<cite>Ingerimm@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well I think it's somehow illogical if SOE advertises a public closed beta and then allow only Fan Fair people, family and friends to the beta.But SOE is now one of the development department and needs to know itself what it does.I would have found it good if we could again participate in the beta can be treated like since the beginning of EQ2.Surely everyone wants to see what will come around to take a picture, but I think that the majority of participants may also report bugs and imbalances in order to play a nice game enhancement publishing.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Regards</div><div>Ingerimm of Valor</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>Its not just fan faire and freinds and family. 1 wave of random invites already went out. I still think at this point in eq2 they should only give beta invites to people who have /bug or /feedback multiple times in the past.

d1anaw

11-22-2011, 03:32 PM

<cite>Anestacia wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Nadirah@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Marnus@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite><blockquote>I dont want to sound ignorant, or naive, but is there a reason why they "don't" allow everyone who applies, into the beta? As the poster above me said, it makes sense that more "eyes" would help finding bugs/errors etc.</blockquote>Because most of the people that do get into beta aren't trying to find out what's wrong and will ignore the little things.They just want to play with new classes, new races, or figure out how to beat new dungeons and raids before everyone else.</blockquote>So let them. It still means there would be more people that DO wanbt to actually test to be allowed to.</blockquote>But then it wouldn't be elitist enough for some. If they want to limit the beta, that's their right technically. But then,as I said, don't go and put out a general invitation when you don't intend to permit those who don't "fit in" to your desired demographic to participate.

gourdon

11-22-2011, 05:14 PM

<cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Ingerimm@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well I think it's somehow illogical if SOE advertises a public closed beta and then allow only Fan Fair people, family and friends to the beta.But SOE is now one of the development department and needs to know itself what it does.I would have found it good if we could again participate in the beta can be treated like since the beginning of EQ2.Surely everyone wants to see what will come around to take a picture, but I think that the majority of participants may also report bugs and imbalances in order to play a nice game enhancement publishing.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Regards</div><div>Ingerimm of Valor</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>Its not just fan faire and freinds and family. 1 wave of random invites already went out. I still think at this point in eq2 they should only give beta invites to people who have /bug or /feedback multiple times in the past.</blockquote>One more criterium. Remove from said list people who whine about class balance.

Felshades

11-22-2011, 06:04 PM

<cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Ingerimm@Valor wrote:</cite><blockquote>Well I think it's somehow illogical if SOE advertises a public closed beta and then allow only Fan Fair people, family and friends to the beta.But SOE is now one of the development department and needs to know itself what it does.I would have found it good if we could again participate in the beta can be treated like since the beginning of EQ2.Surely everyone wants to see what will come around to take a picture, but I think that the majority of participants may also report bugs and imbalances in order to play a nice game enhancement publishing.<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>Regards</div><div>Ingerimm of Valor</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote>Its not just fan faire and freinds and family. 1 wave of random invites already went out. I still think at this point in eq2 they should only give beta invites to people who have /bug or /feedback multiple times in the past.</blockquote>This.

Ilovecows

11-23-2011, 01:39 AM

soe should have the mentality of whatever company it is that is making guild wars 2. Don't give a release date before the beta even starts. The release date should be "when we have finished beta testing."

Felshades

11-23-2011, 02:30 AM

<cite>Steppen@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>soe should have the mentality of whatever company it is that is making guild wars 2. Don't give a release date before the beta even starts. The release date should be "when we have finished beta testing."</blockquote>That's what Blizzard does. Anyone that's dealt with this genre for a fair amount of time should know that any given date is a rough ballpark estimate.I haven't really seen many release dates, such as patches, expansions, sequels, etc, that have come exactly on the date given way back when they were making press releases. Usually if they give a date, they give a date somewhere in the middle to end. Any other date is just a guesstimation.Course, people don't get that. And then whine when it's not available on the "day I heard".

EvilAstroboy

11-23-2011, 12:53 PM

<cite>Steppen@Nagafen wrote:</cite><blockquote>soe should have the mentality of whatever company it is that is making guild wars 2. Don't give a release date before the beta even starts. The release date should be "when we have finished beta testing."</blockquote>I'm pretty sure ArenaNet will have a release date within 3 months of release, and be able to stick to it. Like they did with Guild Wars 1 and its expansions.

Grumpy_Warrior_01

11-23-2011, 03:41 PM

<cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote>Its not just fan faire and freinds and family. 1 wave of random invites already went out. I still think at this point in eq2 they should only give beta invites to people who have /bug or /feedback multiple times in the past.</blockquote>I'm not so sure this should be the criterion. If multiple feedbacks were the gatekeeper for beta invites, then soon there would be thousands of bogus feedbacks from players upping their feedback count. On the other hand, multiple USEFUL feedbacks would be a better standard, but that's very subjective and would still require hand-selecting.

Gungo

11-23-2011, 04:20 PM

<cite>Grumpy_Warrior_01 wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote>Its not just fan faire and freinds and family. 1 wave of random invites already went out. I still think at this point in eq2 they should only give beta invites to people who have /bug or /feedback multiple times in the past.</blockquote>I'm not so sure this should be the criterion. If multiple feedbacks were the gatekeeper for beta invites, then soon there would be thousands of bogus feedbacks from players upping their feedback count. On the other hand, multiple USEFUL feedbacks would be a better standard, but that's very subjective and would still require hand-selecting.</blockquote>Its subjective BUT supposedly the QA team is suppose to go through all bug reports while the dev team is suppose to go through all feedbacks. Its easy for them to sepearate the useful feedback from the useless feedbacks. Furthermore if they held it to this standard when they go into beta testing mode they can severaly limit the useless feedback by not including those individuals who spammed useless feedback on the live servers.And while it may be subjective. It is subjective to the standards set by the person who is going to fix it in the first place. So it becomes useful.Worse case scenario it forces people to do better quality and quantity of bug reports and feedbacks if they want to enter beta. Which is never a bad thing.But making beta testing into a marketing toy to people who have no intention of fixing the game or beta testing .Just makes beta testing a zoo of trolling and class warfare feedback where a bunch of players use it as a preview instead of beta fixing which is the point.

Yimway

11-23-2011, 04:24 PM

<cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote>.Just makes beta testing a zoo of trolling and class warfare feedback where a bunch of players use it as a preview instead of beta fixing which is the point.</blockquote>Actually, I think that more is the point in SoE's view. A preview for all the fan sights, and players to herald the day the NDA is lifted.I mean comeon, you've been other betas, you know how little is actually fixed from player feedback once beta is opened up to the larger public.

Gungo

11-24-2011, 01:12 AM

<cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Gungo@Crushbone wrote:</cite><blockquote>.Just makes beta testing a zoo of trolling and class warfare feedback where a bunch of players use it as a preview instead of beta fixing which is the point.</blockquote>Actually, I think that more is the point in SoE's view. A preview for all the fan sights, and players to herald the day the NDA is lifted.I mean comeon, you've been other betas, you know how little is actually fixed from player feedback once beta is opened up to the larger public.</blockquote>I know most of the changes are done during friends and family and the first few weeks of beta. After it opens up its just a marketing ploy.

Therendil

12-02-2011, 01:37 AM

I got in on the first round of applications accepted, but after the 'friends and family' round. I made the usual round of /bug reports with matching forum posts. In most cases, fixes made it into a patch in short order and I was able to do another round of testing and reporting. I know I caught a few things no one else did, and that these things were fixed.I also added my views to forum posts and /feedback when an original idea was really unpopular or seemed poorly thought out. Collectively, we did convince the designers to make a number of design changes based on our input.People who worked the beta that way seemed to get a lot done. There were also the usual grogs whose bug reports amounted to complaining that their favorite whatever didn't work the way they liked, or didn't get the public attention it should, and so on, or just griped about how the whole expansion was a huge waste.Beta worked for me because I'm an actual retired test engineer who has worked on large projects, so I have a better idea what the devs really need to hear. Other people had different experiences.

Maroger

12-03-2011, 06:39 PM

I finally got an invite for the beta which is pointless at this point as the game goes live Tuesday and they wont give a darn about any bug reports and criticisms submitted.Esp. as I have run beta tests for both IBM and other game companies and am an experienced tester.Since EOF I have always been in the early beta and I am truly insulted and annoyed at the way SJ has rund this beta. It was way too short and it was done privately which means that the release WILL BE BUG CITY!!

Samovila

12-03-2011, 11:38 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>I finally got an invite for the beta which is pointless at this point as the game goes live Tuesday and they wont give a darn about any bug reports and criticisms submitted.Esp. as I have run beta tests for both IBM and other game companies and am an experienced tester.Since EOF I have always been in the early beta and I am truly insulted and annoyed at the way SJ has rund this beta. It was way too short and it was done privately which means that the release WILL BE BUG CITY!!</blockquote>ROTFL nice to see I wasn't the only one. Thanks SOE but by the time I get the patcher to mesh up with Vista it'll be Tuesday. Can we say a day late and a dollar short? <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/2786c5c8e1a8be796fb2f726cca5a0fe.gif" border="0" /> SOE strikes again...

Bacci

12-04-2011, 06:37 AM

Got my invitation today as well.Bad timing and maybe a joke?I helped in each expansion to test early.Never broke the NDA, never used bad words.It would have been nicer to a long term customer like me to simply keep my offer for testing ignored, than sending me an invite 2 days before release.I feel fooled.

KorbUK

12-04-2011, 08:48 AM

I know that feeling also.got sent a beta invite last night only to remember that the expansion goes live in 2 daysand therefore i was unable to access the test server.Obviously a mistake has happened where the invites went out but seems such a shame.

Maroger

12-04-2011, 08:58 AM

<cite>Bacci@Runnyeye wrote:</cite><blockquote>Got my invitation today as well.Bad timing and maybe a joke?I helped in each expansion to test early.Never broke the NDA, never used bad words.It would have been nicer to a long term customer like me to simply keep my offer for testing ignored, than sending me an invite 2 days before release.I feel fooled.</blockquote>I couldn't agree more - especially as they have disabled bug reporting means they don't give a darn what we say or find. I think if they don't change things the next time around =- Time to move on.Install of beta will go faster if you copy over the PAKS and MUSIC directories from EQ2.

Irgun

12-04-2011, 12:51 PM

In beta as well, but I even dont bother to set it up, because its just not worth it ~

Kvanilya

12-05-2011, 12:07 AM

Same boat here too. Finally got the invite to beta but with launch in 2 days, what is the point? Nothing would be corrected or honestly even looked at. Really been less than impressed with this "expansion" and the last one. I see a LONG wait time at launch, a lot of hot fixes which could have been avoided and a lot of downtime in our immediate future.Even with rolling back launch, maybe SOE should have thought about a better schedule on their testing. <img src="/eq2/images/smilies/136dd33cba83140c7ce38db096d05aed.gif" border="0" />

Maroger

12-05-2011, 11:58 AM

What is even more insulting we can't even look in the beta forums. Personally I think this whole thing is a slap in the face!!

Finora

12-05-2011, 01:51 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>What is even more insulting we can't even look in the beta forums. Personally I think this whole thing is a slap in the face!!</blockquote>Why can't you look at the beta forums? If you are in beta you should still have full access to them. Posts are still going up today. Devs are still actively responding.And bug reporting isn't disabled at all. I was able to bug report last night with no issues.And having been in every one of the past expansion betas & betas for numerous other games, I must say this particular beta felt better than any other I've ever been in. A world of difference between this one and DOV beta where everyone who was testing pretty much felt they were being completely ignored. The devs really did listen to concerns, complaints and feedback as well as bug reports for this beta. No matter what your feelings are about the expansion itself, the beta was handled pretty well. I only wish it were a bit longer. Though short betas are nothing new.Issues reported in the last couple of days, if they haven't already been addressed, probably won't be addressed before release unless they are remarkably easy fixes. However, those can be added to a to do list post launch. No reason not to continue giving feedback. Could be your feedback is something devs nor the other players have considered.

Maroger

12-05-2011, 02:04 PM

<cite>Finora@Everfrost wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>What is even more insulting we can't even look in the beta forums. Personally I think this whole thing is a slap in the face!!</blockquote>Why can't you look at the beta forums? If you are in beta you should still have full access to them. Posts are still going up today. Devs are still actively responding.And bug reporting isn't disabled at all. I was able to bug report last night with no issues.And having been in every one of the past expansion betas & betas for numerous other games, I must say this particular beta felt better than any other I've ever been in. A world of difference between this one and DOV beta where everyone who was testing pretty much felt they were being completely ignored. The devs really did listen to concerns, complaints and feedback as well as bug reports for this beta. No matter what your feelings are about the expansion itself, the beta was handled pretty well. I only wish it were a bit longer. Though short betas are nothing new.Issues reported in the last couple of days, if they haven't already been addressed, probably won't be addressed before release unless they are remarkably easy fixes. However, those can be added to a to do list post launch. No reason not to continue giving feedback. Could be your feedback is something devs nor the other players have considered.</blockquote>I can't get into the beta forums I TRIED - ONE MORE INSULT. Tried to make a bug report SUBMIT GREYED OUT. INSULT to PEOPLE.

Geothe

12-05-2011, 02:39 PM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>I can't get into the beta forums I TRIED - ONE MORE INSULT. Tried to make a bug report SUBMIT GREYED OUT. INSULT to PEOPLE.</blockquote>Don't blame SoE for user error.Beta forums are up.If you can login to the Beta patcher (which by your posts, sure seems you can) then you can access the Beta forums as well.Yes, I'm definitely not a fan of this "expansion" what-so-ever. But keep your complaints to actually valid things please.

Maroger

12-05-2011, 04:12 PM

<cite>Geothe wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>I can't get into the beta forums I TRIED - ONE MORE INSULT. Tried to make a bug report SUBMIT GREYED OUT. INSULT to PEOPLE.</blockquote>Don't blame SoE for user error.Beta forums are up.If you can login to the Beta patcher (which by your posts, sure seems you can) then you can access the Beta forums as well.Yes, I'm definitely not a fan of this "expansion" what-so-ever. But keep your complaints to actually valid things please.</blockquote>When I click on the beta forum I get sent to the EQ2 extended forums - so this beta invitation is a FRAUD.

Matia

12-05-2011, 04:20 PM

The beta boards are on the EQ2X forums... so no it's not.

Raknid

12-05-2011, 04:28 PM

I would post a screenie if I could but when I follow the beta link here I do not get the beta subsection on the extended forums.

Muris

12-05-2011, 04:31 PM

Ditto, no Beta Forum anywhere. The link here sends me to Extended, sign in there, no beta subset there either.

Koleg

12-05-2011, 05:08 PM

At this point ... there is between 12 and 24 hours before launch ... it is not unusual to turn-off the beta forums, they would certainly be turned off before the launch. Beta posts are protected under NDA and are not allowed to be copied or transposed. Shutting down the fourms now verses at midnight pacific really doesn't make any difference. All the bugs and input has been either handled or is too late. Other wise the only reason to be on the beta boards is to "snoop" and get a head start. The Beta window was way too short and the F&F portion undoubtedly left a lot of undiscovered bugs and issues. Lets hope SOE watches whatever communication media they determine as an input source and get the undiscovered bugs fixed before the new year.

Maroger

12-05-2011, 09:20 PM

<cite>Koleg@Unrest_old wrote:</cite><blockquote>At this point ... there is between 12 and 24 hours before launch ... it is not unusual to turn-off the beta forums, they would certainly be turned off before the launch. Beta posts are protected under NDA and are not allowed to be copied or transposed. Shutting down the fourms now verses at midnight pacific really doesn't make any difference. All the bugs and input has been either handled or is too late. Other wise the only reason to be on the beta boards is to "snoop" and get a head start. The Beta window was way too short and the F&F portion undoubtedly left a lot of undiscovered bugs and issues. Lets hope SOE watches whatever communication media they determine as an input source and get the undiscovered bugs fixed before the new year.</blockquote>They have to end F&F beta as it is too small to do any good as too often composed of player who generally are known as fanboys.

Dawkitty

12-05-2011, 11:48 PM

<cite>Muris wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ditto, no Beta Forum anywhere. The link here sends me to Extended, sign in there, no beta subset there either.</blockquote>That was your problem. You sign in here FIRST, then click the link to the Beta forums.If you don't do it in that exact order, it sends you to the normal extended forums.

K@z

12-06-2011, 06:55 AM

<cite>Dawkitty wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Muris wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ditto, no Beta Forum anywhere. The link here sends me to Extended, sign in there, no beta subset there either.</blockquote>That was your problem. You sign in here FIRST, then click the link to the Beta forums.If you don't do it in that exact order, it sends you to the normal extended forums.</blockquote>I have this problem too, got mail, can log into beta server (but no character transfer...) without problem, but if I log here, then click extended with beta description I end every time on normal ext forum where is no sign about beta posts. Tryied diff browsers and still the same, so not our fault...

Maroger

12-06-2011, 11:16 AM

<cite>K@z wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Dawkitty wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Muris wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ditto, no Beta Forum anywhere. The link here sends me to Extended, sign in there, no beta subset there either.</blockquote>That was your problem. You sign in here FIRST, then click the link to the Beta forums.If you don't do it in that exact order, it sends you to the normal extended forums.</blockquote>I have this problem too, got mail, can log into beta server (but no character transfer...) without problem, but if I log here, then click extended with beta description I end every time on normal ext forum where is no sign about beta posts. Tryied diff browsers and still the same, so not our fault...</blockquote>These late invitation were nothing but a fraud - beta had ended -- I find it insulting that they even sent them out.It was total fraudulent thing to do-- they should announce BETA ONLY FOR OUR SPECIAL FANBOYS - everyone else should not bother to apply -- you can apply but you won't get in until after it is over as we don't want your comments or bugs-Since they only used F&F ( who are worthless) the real beta starts today when the expansion(???) goes live.

Finora

12-06-2011, 11:46 AM

<cite>Maroger wrote:</cite><blockquote>These late invitation were nothing but a fraud - beta had ended -- I find it insulting that they even sent them out.It was total fraudulent thing to do-- they should announce BETA ONLY FOR OUR SPECIAL FANBOYS - everyone else should not bother to apply -- you can apply but you won't get in until after it is over as we don't want your comments or bugs-Since they only used F&F ( who are worthless) the real beta starts today when the expansion(???) goes live.</blockquote>I don't know the problem with you & your beta invite, but several people I know got into beta late (just like you) and had ZERO issues getting in and accessing the boards. Beta server didn't get shut down until midnight pacific like all the rest of the servers.There were serveral influxes of beta invites over the past month (just like they said there would be), the 'friends and family' portion was over weeks ago.We all get that you are angry (you usually are about something). But at least be truthful.

Taurus

12-06-2011, 12:04 PM

I totally agree with you Maroger. First time in 6 years I’ve posted on here or the forums about anything and I’m already considered a troll. 6 posts regarding having to have a subscription to beta test AoD!? So bronze and silver EQ2X players couldn’t play, even if they were accepted:Hello there Dorian,I apologize for the inconvenience in regards to your issue, but you are correct, and will need to have a paid subscription or membership for EverQuest II in order to be allowed admittance to the Age of Discovery beta.For more information, please refer to the following Knowledge Base Article: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://soe-ing.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30388">http://soe-ing.custhelp.com/app/ans...tail/a_id/30388</a>Please let me know if you have any other questions or issues and I will be happy to assist you. Give us a call at 858-537-0898 Monday through Friday, 10 am to 7 pm Pacific time.Thank you.Sean F.Technical Support RepresentativeSony Online EntertainmentThat’s what irked me more than anything, since I got invited just 3 days before 12-6 release…took a day to even get a C.S. response and that was it. Subbed for over 4 years on live, spent thousands of SC since going to EQ2X and yet we now want more money to test AoD, What!!? The only thing that even remotely interested me was beastlord, but now I don’t even care.Um there’s plenty of bronze and silver vets that have masters/ fabled gear attuned that have let their gold sub lapse or just bought unlockers… You know Smokey the ones you forced us to buy when Velious released with quest rewards all atleast legendary. You want to survive Velious, then buy unlockers, go gold, or die, lol.Smokey we do participate already, remember who helped fix the catastrophie that was and still is Velious? The players fixed it and went around finding all the bugs/ horrid itemizations etc….after we all told you not to release it that way….Think that kinda killed the Moral you talk about as well. Oh and that extra free content you promised if we bought Velious, guess waiting almost a year wasn’t long enough, so since I won’t be playing, guess I did pay for Velious, but received only half the product which is supposedly still coming some day? Boy wish I could do that with my landlord, utilities and supermarket. Sounds like Wimpy from Popeye cartoons.Devs seem to have no enthusiasm, almost like they know Smokey is charging in the wrong direction, but they have to do what they are told. I mean I’m highly competetive as well and I hate to break the news to ya Smoke, but I would think EQ2 development is a team, not solo sport<img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> You make it sound like it’s all about you.Oh well, I just played that other game no one wants to hear about….that beta was free and thoroughly enjoyable. I must be classified as super troll now and that’s why alot of us vets keep our opinions to ourselves.One of my previous wire posts, but tired already of wasting time typing about Smedley's EQ2 game.

Muris

12-06-2011, 01:52 PM

<cite>Dawkitty wrote:</cite><blockquote><cite>Muris wrote:</cite><blockquote>Ditto, no Beta Forum anywhere. The link here sends me to Extended, sign in there, no beta subset there either.</blockquote>That was your problem. You sign in here FIRST, then click the link to the Beta forums.If you don't do it in that exact order, it sends you to the normal extended forums.</blockquote>Sorry to disappoint you, but I had signed in here, when I clicked the link on this forum it took me there and asked for a user handle on that forum, once I gave it one, was still no sign of the forums there either. The point is moot at this time, but I had to correct this assumption.Edited to clarify that I followed the link on this board which took me to the EQ2x board.