Beta to start Monday/Tuesday

[Rivenshield]

Originally Posted by Littleman

SOE has said they plan to release PS2 THIS year.

From freaking ALPHA to RELEASE in just a few months? For most large-scale business enterprise software -- and this certainly qualifies -- beta testing can go six months to sky's the limit.

That's awfully, awfully optimistic. We'll see.

[Comet]

Uhhh... not for a shooter, no. 6 months for beta testing is awfully, awfully unrealistic.

[Braveliltoaster]

Betaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sameer]

umm, yea, 6 months is too short. Look at Firefall, theyve been in beta for months with no signs of release. Look at out much of an amazing job they are doing. Most impressive thing is the amount of depth for each class. I hope Sony can follow what Red5 is doing.

[OnexBigxHebrew]

Originally Posted by sameer

umm, yea, 6 months is too short. Look at Firefall, theyve been in beta for months with no signs of release. Look at out much of an amazing job they are doing. Most impressive thing is the amount of depth for each class. I hope Sony can follow what Red5 is doing.

I'm feeling like a 6 month beta is a soft release kind of thing.

[Xaine]

Originally Posted by EisenKreutzer

Brace for disappointment!

This.

[Littleman]

As an F2P, the second the game goes open beta, it's essentially released.

Do you really expect closed beta to last 4-6 months? Do you want it to?

I'm going by SOE's last mention of release, which thus far, is a planned 2012 release until stated otherwise. I'm not going to hold them to it and call them nasty names and spew harsh words if they fail to deliver however, because ****, the second I'm in and playing, I don't flippin' care what phase we're in!

[Comet]

Reality is PS2 has been in development for a long while, and, as Higby said himself, the game has to be released at some point (re: sooner rather than later) to start bringing in some money.

[OutlawDr]

Even if it starts Monday/Tuesday, its still closed beta and its going to start relatively small and then ramp up. In other words, majority of us won't be getting in Mon/Tues. Stock up on tissues.

[The Degenatron]

Getting upgraded internet connection on Sunday. Things are going better than expected.

[Zulthus]

Who do I have to kill to get into the first wave?

[Novice bot]

Originally Posted by Rivenshield

From freaking ALPHA to RELEASE in just a few months? For most large-scale business enterprise software -- and this certainly qualifies -- beta testing can go six months to sky's the limit.

That's awfully, awfully optimistic. We'll see.

Its a F2P title, so no problem. As long as the cash shop is ready and functional in the open beta, they can keep it in open beta as long as they want to.

[Rivenshield]

Originally Posted by Novice bot

Its a F2P title, so no problem. As long as the cash shop is ready and functional in the open beta, they can keep it in open beta as long as they want to.

/shakes head

That's picking semantic nits and thinking wishful thoughts. We still don't even know if they intend to charge for the client; according to the official web site, they have yet to release data on their business model. (I think they should, to keep out the script kiddies and multiboxers, or at least harden the target. But that's a whole 'nother conversation).

I'm telling you, I've done software development for HP and the state of California and places like that... and you do NOT go from alpha to release that quickly in the real world. The best we can realistically hope for is a Christmas release. More likely is March-April, which would correspond to the fiscal year most businesses use. About the time Smed and his peers sit down to haggle over departmental budgets, he can hit them up for some more ad dollars, because hey! PS2 is going LIIIIIIVE!

If I'm wrong, you can fax me a punch in the nose and remind me of what I said, and I will apologize profusely and go back to squashing smurfs instead of filing bug reports.

[noxious]

Originally Posted by Rivenshield

/shakes head

That's picking semantic nits and thinking wishful thoughts. We still don't even know if they intend to charge for the client; according to the official web site, they have yet to release data on their business model. (I think they should, to keep out the script kiddies and multiboxers, or at least harden the target. But that's a whole 'nother conversation).

We do know that the game will be completely free. They've asserted this over and over.

As for the rest of your post, few games spend six months in public beta and nine months is almost unheard of. Being free to play as it is, it is likely that PlanetSide 2 will follow a similar path to release as Tribes: Ascend, where the beta designation might remain long after the game is freely available. From the end user's perspective, when this point is reached, the game has effectively been released.

[Rivenshield]

Originally Posted by noxious

We do know that the game will be completely free. They've asserted this over and over.

I must have missed the memo. Their web site says:

WHAT IS THE BUSINESS MODEL FOR PLANETSIDE 2?
A:We will have more information on this in the months ahead. Sign up to receive our email updates and like us on Facebook to be in the know.

Free to play simply means they won't charge a subscription fee, so far as I know.

Originally Posted by noxious

As for the rest of your post, few games spend six months in public beta

What's the average for a MMORPG? I freely admit I don't know. Never worked on a game; I['m simply comparing it to the large-scale business enterprise system-thingies.

I'm more than willing to be proven wrong. I just don't see it happening that fast, is all.