So other companies don't announce Beta dates?

[UnDeAdKiTtY]

I was wondering about this myself, I was starting to get annoyed at all of this we are going to announce something in the coming weeks stuff. By no means am I bashing the developers or marketing people, I just don't like it when someone pisses on my leg and tells me its raining. If you are gonna build up all this hype why do it when beta is further away then is assumed, because you guys will get burned by the people you are trying to appeal to. I know this is out of your hands but please realize this.

I am patient and I am going to play it when it comes out, I am happy to wait and can't wait to have alot of fun, but the livelihood of a free to play game relays on the people that are there first and pushes it to other people. Along with the fact that only 30 percent of your customer base will be paying you guys can't afford to make this mistake. Please be aware of this

Much love undeadkitty

[Kemeros]

Originally Posted by RadarX

As we've said Technical Beta will be first and very tiny just to make sure everything is working.

Well damn... i thought the technical beta was already underway. The "will be first" part of your sentence says it hasn't. Next phase will be later than i anticipated then.

You say the beta will start sooner than most think. Most of us thought it'd be out by now since the E3 announcement said "a few weeks". A month later is not considered a few weeks. A bit more than a month maybe more depending on technical test is what you should have said.

Don't get me wrong i appreciate your hard work and support the decision to bring the game out when your ready to support it correctly and that the game doesn't crash every seconds. I just hate getting excited over a statement that just wasn't realistic. But then i should have known better than to raise my hopes up.

I do appreciate the team's presence on the web though, that part, you guys do it really well.

Edit: Well and the game too... that part too is really well done. xD

[Littleman]

They have until the end of August before I grow concerned. Unless of course, they're planning to release the game after 2-4 months of beta. Being an F2P, once it goes open beta one may as well call it "released" save for the fact they'll wipe all of our personal progress on "release" day. At least, I assume they will.

Coincidentally, I never saw the point in an open beta on an F2P. It's a test in name only at the point, really. Extreme stress testing maybe, but that's about it.

[EightEightEight]

If the Beta does not come out till after GuildWars 2 comes out in August I might get dis-interested.

They keep amping it up and then the lull

YOU GUYS ARE Messing with my Emotions

[NoDachi]

Smedley said over twitter that the technical beta is starting in a few days.

It'll be a very limited selection though.

[DirtyBird]

How many different types of beta do we have atm?

Technical beta being the last to be mentioned by Smeds.

[Littleman]

Thing is, does anyone here REALLY want to know when the technical beta begins?

Originally Posted by basti

Every game the same.

No date? People ask for it.
No answer? People get mad.
Soon/very soon/in the next few weeks? People ask for a date again
No date? People get mad.
Give date? Most are happy, some get mad "Why not sooner?"
Miss date? People go into ultra rage.
Date kept? People not selected for CBT go into ultra rage.

I fixed Basti's lovely example and highlighted the update in an annoying bright red.

It. Never. Fails. People will get pissy, especially the more selfish, egotistical ones that think they somehow deserve it (re: all the threads popping up with suggested criteria to getting priority access.)

I just hope if I get selected, SOE makes the bug and feedback submission process fairly streamlined and easily accessible. I don't want to have to jump through hoops and barrels to get their attention like I do with NCSoft and Aion just to report a bot.

[NoDachi]

Originally Posted by Littleman

Thing is, does anyone here REALLY want to know when the technical beta begins?

John Smedley? "In a few days".

[Littleman]

Originally Posted by NoDachi

John Smedley? "In a few days".

That's so very specific

We've learned a few weeks could take months. To be honest though, I actually think CBT will start mid-July (that's this month for you slower folks) with the "in a few days" technical test only really lasting a couple of days...

Oh, God, did I just say that?

[SniperSteve]

It's ready when it is ready. Don't rush it peeps.... Besides --- if SOE's marketing thinks this is a good way of getting people into the game, then so be it.

[Kilratha]

Originally Posted by Pride

Is that a challenge I sense? I believe ten may be a bit ambitious, I can't think of ten big shooter released in the last couple of years. How about five and you can work with me from there?

Halo Reach - X360
Microsoft
Announced for 3rd of May on the 11th Febuary
3 Month Gap
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-reach-beta-dated

Halo 3 - X360
Microsoft
Announced for 16th of May on the 10th of April
1 Month Gap
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/10/ha...irmed-for-may/

Call of Duty: World At War - X360/PC
Activision
Announced on the 9th of August (or possibly the 8th of september, i'm not sure of the date format here) for an October release.
3(or possibly 2) month gap.
http://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/2658086

Battlefield 3 - X360/PC/PS3
EA
Announced for 27th of September (closed, 29th open) on the 20th of September.
1 week gap.
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/17406-...beta-date-set/

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - X360/PC/PS3
EA
Announced for 28th of January on the 8th of January.
1 month gap.
http://www.shacknews.com/article/618...d-company-2-pc

So there we have it, from all the influential shooters of the past 5 years I can think of straight away then their beta dates.

Edit: I was bored so I decided to meet your original challenge.

Black light Retribution - PC
Perfect World Entertainment
Announced for 27th of Febuary on the 14th of Febuary.
2 week gap.
http://blacklight-retribution.browse...g-shooter.html

Brick Force - PC
Infernum Productions
Announced for February the 28th on the 3rd of Febuary.
1 month gap.
http://brick-force.browsergamez.com/...der-title.html

Dust 514 - PS3
CCP Games
Announced for June 29th on the 5th of June.
1 month gap.
http://thecontrolleronline.com/2012/...ate-confirmed/

Mass Effect 3 (more of a co-op shooter apposed to full on fragfest granted) - X360/PC/PS3
EA
Announced for Feb 14th on the 18th of Jan.
1 Month gap.
http://uk.pc.gamespy.com/pc/mass-eff...1216713p1.html

Ghost Recon Future Solider - X360/PS3
Ubisoft
Announced for April 19th on April 5th.
2 week gap.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012/04/05/gh...ork-announced/

So there you go, Challenge Accepted. 10 beta shooters, on multiple platforms as well as evidenced sources. With the additional 5 betas the new average for the gap between announcement and release is... 1 and a quarter months.

NONE of which are MMO's. Massively Multiplayer Online. Not just Multiplayer Online. The difference between these types of games is night and day.

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Kilratha

NONE of which are MMO's. Massively Multiplayer Online. Not just Multiplayer Online. The difference between these types of games is night and day.

Remember, there are only 2 real MMOFPS, so it's either cite non MMO FPS info, or MMORPGs. I think non MMO FPS is more relevant here. Though I suspect Pride could probably find the info on some MMORPGs.

[Graywolves]

What are you talking about?

I'm pretty sure they told us about their alpha tests last december. They even told us about their beta build before E3. Then they continued to tell us about their beta internal testing and there's been tweets here and there about their playtests and technical tests.


What announcement are you missing?