WWIIonline seems to have gone gold without an open beta.

[Dowding]

Heh - Ripsnort and Funked - is that a breach of an NDA?  

Or a service for people to see what they are buying into, in two weeks time?

It seems my immoral, son-of-a-schmuck source was pretty close to the mark. I think both of them are accurate.

Maybe it will all come good - we can but hope.

[rosco-]

 Im probably going to wait a while, I bought B17 2 and imo its the crappyist POS flight sim I ever played.
  Im sure WW2 will be much better but I want to hear some opinions before I buy a game to try out for free  

[Tac]

with all due respect to the rat team.. but what kind of moron passes an open beta and goes gold?

Heck, the sheer publicity/demo potential of an open beta, even for at least a month is greatly beneficial.

I KNOW I will NOT pay for a product unless I get a demo or preview. WWiiOL may be hype, but they aint getting my money unless I get to see it before I buy. period.

[funked]

   

is that a breach of an NDA?
Or a service for people to see what they are buying into, in two weeks time?

Assuming it's true and the guy is under NDA, it's a breach.  

As far as any service:  If you look at any game before it's ready for release, you are going to find serious problems.  There is a reason that a Beta is called a Beta - it means the producers don't feel a product is ready for sale.  The reason you make testers sign an NDA is just for situtations like this - some moron who wants to do a service to the public by squeaking about a beta version that is not representative of the final release version.  

The only service this guy is performing is to inflate his own ego, and he is doing a great disservice to the makers and prospective customers of the game.  If he was truly interested in helping someone other that his own sorry ass, he would tell everybody to do what any smart shopper does with any new game - wait for it to be released, read the reviews, and make a purchase decision based on the final product, not an unfinished pre-release version.

[This message has been edited by funked (edited 05-24-2001).]

[Kirin]

Any MMPOG will always be under constant developement. This is even more true for WW2Online because they are planning to release more theaters and equipment in the future.

I am really happy that WW2O has gone gold - finally something we can get our greedy hands on. I don't mind if there will be some bugs left to hunt - AH has them aswell, sometimes to an extent which eliminates all the fun of flying  -  but I was paying them 30 bucks a month for a year (when did AH go pay for play again??) now.

A prolonged open beta phase would have been great but I can live without it. Still I think the rats will do a server stress anyway - recall reading something like a version to dowload and play for free which expires when the retail version is out. They have still 2 weeks to go!

[MrSiD]

If they announce having an open beta and then eat their words, I won't trust them with my c/c either.

[blackfalcon4]

YO

 Well I found that site beating up on crs very disconserting, but still I've already shelled out my $$ for the game  
may be stupid but i've purchased alot of games and software only to be massively let down   So losing out another $40 Ain't gonna make much more of a difference I guess  

 But I will give the game the benefit of the doubt and try it out. Not giving up my AH sub tho, no way in hell. I'll try it out see if I like it or not and let everyone know my opinion of the game, which i'm sure lots of guys will be doing anyways.  

 We''l have to start a new thread just for ww2ol opinions...lol


------------------
BlackFalcon4

  << DRAGON HAWKS >>

[Ripsnort]

Jesus Funked (that has a ring to it, Jesus Funked)....I bow to your choice of words.

Ditto what Jesus funked said.

[Nifty]

Actually, didn't the NDA for WWIIOL expire like May 8th?  I think it did for game magazines anyways, I seem to remember a big deal about that a few weeks ago.  Not sure if it applied to the beta testers or not.  

[Degas]

They could very well have enough people in Closed Beta to thoroughly stress-test the server.

The accepted limit on a single server in today's MMOG's is around 2,000.  Having played most of them on a dial-up, I find that logging into a server with more that 1500 online is a waste of my time.  Ping times degrade horribly and packet loss becomes a real problem.

CRS has installed, or is installing, the WWIIOL client on 25 servers.  If they have 2,000 or so in closed beta, and have set that as the limit for a single server, then they are stress-testing as we speak.

They have said they have more than 500, but less than 5000, currently in closed beta.

I have some real concerns with WWIIOL. Mainly, I am concerned with a) the reduced monthly cost and it's effect on the maturity of the player base, and b) the tone of their forums.

Having said that,  I will be moving lock, stock and barrel to WWIIOL when it is released.  Aces High is an excellent game for fighter sim enthusiasts, and each new version makes it better for them.  

For strategy-oriented players, it is a 30-dollar-a-month exercise in frustration.

[54Ed]

There's a lot of disinformation going on in here.  

Fact: WWIIOL has been in closed beta since January.  Closed beta testers were drawn from a list of 5000 who signed up last summer.  Most of those 5000 are now in closed beta.

Fact: The rats have clearly stated that there will be an open beta before release.  It will be short, and there will be a limit on the number of people who can log on at any one time.

Opinion: The limit will gradually rise as the rats add server capacity to get ready for release.

Opinion: If you are willing to keep trying to download and log on, you WILL get to try the beta before release.

Opinion: 5000 closed beta testers are enough to debug the client-side software.

Opinion: One week of open beta may be enough to debug the server-side software and architecture.  Or maybe not.

Fact: We'll all know the answer in two weeks.      

[Mickey1992]

 

Originally posted by 54Ed:
Fact: The rats have clearly stated that there will be an open beta before release.  [/B]

Yes, they said that in the past, but earlier this week they said there would be no open beta.  They would instead continue to add people to the closed beta.

Most of the people crying about no open beta are the kids that wanted to play free for 2-3 months.  While some online titles have been brought to their knees at release (UO, EQ), I would hope that the Rats have learned from other's mistakes.

[Dowding]

Why bother?

[This message has been edited by Dowding (edited 05-25-2001).]

[54Ed]

Mickey, you are wrong.  Go back and read all the posts by Rafter.  There will be an open beta.  It won't be very long, but everyone will have an equal chance to play.  That is open.

[Toad]

Why not let it rest a while?

Soon everyone will see it for themselves and make their own decision.