Though I have yet to play it online, I did get their newsletter:
06.14.01
WWII ONLINE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER
Thanks for taking the time to read our first WWII Online newsletter. We hope this will provide you with some new information of what's happening with the launch as well as what's coming up in the game. In the future we hope to offer this newsletter as part of our Player Services package available through Playnet.com.
Here's what you'll find in this week's newsletter...
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***** INSTANT ACTION *****
SECTION 1: A special letter to our customers
SECTION 2: Dev update from our Producer
SECTION 3: Gameplay Tips
SECTION 4: Update from our Game Manager
SECTION 5: Notes from Customer Service
SECTION 6: What next?
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***** INSTANT ACTION *****
How can I improve my framerate?
There are players who are experiencing good frame rates on top end systems but we are working to optimize the game to run even better. Try reducing your visibility rage using the F4 key- some players have seen an improvement with this option. Be sure to check out the following links for some tips:
www.playnet.com/supportfaq.html [How can I enhance the performance of the game?]
How long until we have one game world?
You probably know that we have temporarily set up multiple game worlds to handle the server loads until we have completed our scaling efforts. Our original design was to support thousands of players in a single world. We haven't strayed from that design. However, based on the overwhelming response to the game's release, it is likely that even after scaling the game world we will need to run multiple instances of the war. Our team is evaluating these issues right now and is working to bring the best solution to the players. No timeline has been set for a game change but we will be informing our customers as soon as possible.
When does the free trial end?
Until we have completed our server scaling efforts and have finalized our game world approach, you are not using up your free 30-day trial. We will notify our customers in advance of when the 30-day free trial begins. Until that time, enjoy the free game play as our thanks for your patience and support.
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SECTION 1: A special letter to our customers
"...we had our butts handed to us after finding out just how many people couldn't wait to experience the promise of WWII Online."
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On June 6th, 2001 Cornered Rat Software, Playnet.com and Strategy First officially launched World War II Online. This was a decision in which all parties shared and despite our best efforts to prepare the game for release, we had significant problems. Networking hardware failed, web servers buckled under the load causing errors and we were forced to expend effort battling hacking attempts to both our web and game network. Add all this together and mix in the normal 'opening day jitters' to the game code and we had our hands full.
For those of you who have been with us since that day, you are already aware of the difficulties we experienced handling the customer response to the game's release. Quite frankly, we were ill prepared for the number of signups and players and our infrastructure failed under the load. In other words, we had our butts handed to us after finding out just how many people couldn't wait to experience the promise of WWII Online. We quickly took drastic measures to try and get our customers signed up and playing as quickly as possible.
The entire CRS and Playnet.com team worked around the clock during those first days to quickly bring up multiple game worlds and stabilize our network status. With the help of our partners, publisher and the support of our customers, we battled our way through to bring you the beginnings of the WWII Online experience.
Where do we go from here? Our team continues to scale our infrastructure, correct problems and evaluate the best game play options in response to the strong sales of the game. Thousands of new players each day are taking up arms on the WWII Online battlefield and we are doing all we can to maximize their experience. Our team is preparing the first post-release patch that tackles load times, frame rates and other optimizations. They are also hard at work on the first feature upgrade slated to add new weapons and vehicles to the war.
Thank you. Thank you for your support in buying the game. Thank you for your private and public notes of encouragement. Thank you for sticking with us as we grow. Our players tell us something we've known for a long time- this is the game they've been waiting for. Even if they are only able to get glimpses of gameplay and must look past the rough patches they are telling us this game is new, exciting and compelling. We agree and that's why we are committed to bringing you everything it is meant to be. Thank you.
--
The entire team at
CRS, Playnet.com and Strategy First
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SECTION 2: Dev update from our Producer
"Grenades and satchel charges will be added..."
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Hello to all the new players. Our next patch focuses on performance increases and functionality fixes. There are a few routines that are being streamlined as well as a few "broken" ones that we have found thanks to reports from the community. The patch should be available sometime this week.
Our first feature upgrade will add grenades and satchel charges to give the troops a bit more flexibility fighting against armor. The RAF will get two new aircraft, the Hawker Hurricane (a single seat fighter), as well as the Bristol Blenheim (a multi-crewed level bomber). No date on this yet but it is not far away.
WWIIOL offers an online combat experience that is unrivaled. A truly dynamic environment where thousands of players fight in tanks, as troops, and in aircraft, all at the same time! This game experience produces fantastic memories from moment one. Riding into battle chatting with your friends, huge formations of troops and tanks moving across the farmlands of France, wild dogfights at treetop level going on above. It's simply the only game of this magnitude. Reports coming in from the battlefields so far all say the same thing; that WWIIOL finally brings players into the virtual battlefield for the first time. More vehicles, more theaters, RPG functions and career tracking, and Naval units are all planned in upcoming patches and free updates. WWIIOL has only just begun, and it's already the biggest, baddest fight you can find on the Net. The virtual battlefield is here and it's only going to get bigger and better.
Chris "MO" Sherland
WWII Online Producer
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SECTION 3: Gameplay Tips
"When you capture an Army Base there will be a big explosion at the base, indicating it has changed hands."
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Buildings are captured by bumping into the "Radio Tables" located inside the Capture Buildings - the ones in cities with a flag on them. You must bump the radio table as a trooper to capture a Capture Building. When you capture a building the Radio Table will disappear for a minute and the flag on the building will change to your country's flag. When you capture an Army Base there will be a big explosion at the base, indicating it has changed hands. You can't capture Forward Bases, these can only be destroyed. These bases will be out on a road somewhere in between two cities. To destroy a Forward Base you must shell both structures until both explode and disappear.
Look for more great game tips at "Eggman's WWIIOL Newb Resources"
www.hq.wwiionline.com/%7Eeggman/ Be sure to check out the official WWIIOL Headquarters
www.hq.wwiionline.com *********************************************
SECTION 4: Update from our Game Manager
"We'll be setting up training arenas, a command staff for both Axis and Allies and working to integrate all of the player services..."
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Hello folks, I'm Michael "GRYF" Weber. I'd like to take a minute to tell y'all a little bit about the direction we are taking WWII Online and what you can expect in the future.
First, we have a commitment to making WWII Online the best WWII combat experience you can get. Immersion, excitement and fun are the key ingredients for getting where we want to go. Our focus over the next few months will be to get you folks into the thick of planning and fighting- and having the most fun possible. In fact, my main purpose is to make sure all of that goes off with as few bumps as possible. We'll be setting up training arenas, a command staff for both Axis and Allies and working to integrate all of the player services that are in our web package. We'll be providing a complete experience to those who wish to take part in it. The ability to plan, executing those plans with missions and accomplishing your stated goals will be available to everyone who wishes to do so.
As we grow we'll be adding new terrain and features to WWII Online. We're working hard to make sure there is some play balance for all the items we are adding. We will need your feedback via the message boards, email or in game to make sure that we have done our jobs well. We want to provide the best MMOG experience possible and your feedback will go a long way to ensure we do.
We have a vision on where we need to be, it's just going to take some time to get there. If you need anything you can always contact me (gryf@playnet.com) and we'll do our best to see the situation resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
Cheers!
Michael "GRYF" Weber
WWII Online Game Manager
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SECTION 5: Notes from Customer Service
"We understand that many of you are more than eager to play and any delay in you reaching that goal is upsetting."
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Thanks to everyone who has submitted an issue to us since the release of the game. We have received more issues than expected, but please be assured we will answer every question submitted as quickly as possible.
If you have a problem with your game, please go to the Customer Support page at
www.playnet.com/support.html; from this page you can read the Support and General FAQs, read the online Game Manual, and submit a problem through iCommunicate. iCommunicate allows you to not only submit a problem, but also search our Knowledge Base for existing solutions; there is also a Chat applet within iCommunicate, which we will be implementing as soon as possible to allow you to get help for your problem in real-time. You can also send an e-mail to support@playnet.com or support@wwiionline.com; again, due to the unexpected number of e-mails, we will answer every question submitted as quickly as possible. We do urge you, however, to use iCommunicate, as it allows us to give you access to the Knowledge Base (and eventually Chat).
We understand that many of you are more than eager to play and any delay in you reaching that goal is upsetting. We are concentrating our efforts on not only getting an answer to everyone, but in finding and verifying answers to your problems.
Finally, thanks also to those who have bought the game, and have submitted an issue, and special thanks to those who have given us words of encouragement. This has been a trying time but we will persevere and flourish.
Customer Support Team
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SECTION 6: What next?
"... you will be able to experience our Player Services package which includes webmail, squad listings, website hosting and our online newspaper."
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In addition to the work being done to scale and improve our infrastructure, bug fixes and feature upgrades, we hope to bring back the official WWII Online website in the coming days. With that you will be able to experience our Player Services package which includes webmail, squad listings, website hosting and our online newspaper reporting from the battlefield. We also hope to bring back our official forums and other great resources we have available. Our decision to bring all resources to bear during the flood of signups meant we had to suspend much of that. That is a temporary situation and we look forward to bringing these great services to you soon.
Eagler
