What hope have we? (The never before beta crowd) - Page 2

Unregistered · 2002-11-07, 09:05 PM

I've never heard of a Beta you have to pay for.

The only real Beta I have been a part of I DL'd the first version, and was mailed the 2nd version that had the CD check in place.

Incompetent · 2002-11-07, 10:03 PM

Damnit, if the damn beta site didn't lock up every time i tried to go there, i'd still be screwed. Damn ageists

CoolAid · 2002-11-07, 10:30 PM

I've never been in one i had to pay for either but i know thats what their doing with SWG but I think this game will be smaller and hopefully we can download.... not because of the price, so we dont have to wait 5 days for the mail....

crash125k · 2002-11-07, 10:39 PM

i believe they will be sending a CD

Hamma · 2002-11-08, 12:38 AM

Yes I think they are sending a CD.. I bet they ship it via US Mail too so we get to wait :|

sPooT · 2002-11-08, 06:37 AM

Originally posted by CoolAid
I bet they will ask for a credit card number to varify age and to pay for the shiping of the beta disk. Although I hope they make it downloadable.

This seems unlikely to me, they are looking for foreign testers too right? Well I'm from Europe (The Netherlands) where most people above 18 don't even have a creditcard. We usually pay directly with our bankcards... And as said before I have yet to see the first paid-for betatest

Kussy · 2002-11-08, 07:37 AM

I bet they will do it like at Star Wars Galaxies Beta. you will have got to pay for the beta cd ... for EVERY beta cd ... and it will be shipped to you. But i hope it will be downloadable too. I don't want to wait for a shipment from US to Germany

but i could imagine that they don'z care about such little problems for foreigners ;(

And yes, credit card payment is a great problem for people in Europe. Only a few people have got one. It's not easy for european people to get a card 8and it's quite expensive too).

@spoot: i'm a student in germany and my bank gives me a credit card. I don't have a regulary income but got a card. Just go to your bank an try it (if you don't have a card yet

).

Hamma · 2002-11-08, 07:56 AM

wow, here in the US most people are in credit card dept before they hit 20

BonnieDundee · 2002-11-08, 08:38 AM

I'm British, and I am.

The NDA says that Sony can charge anything for the beta. However, it's very likely that this clause only means that you have to pay shipping for the CD, as in the SWG beta.

sPooT · 2002-11-08, 10:27 AM

Originally posted by Kussy
And yes, credit card payment is a great problem for people in Europe. Only a few people have got one. It's not easy for european people to get a card 8and it's quite expensive too).

@spoot: i'm a student in germany and my bank gives me a credit card. I don't have a regulary income but got a card. Just go to your bank an try it (if you don't have a card yet ).

Yup I believe my bank has them too for a couple of euros each year. Never needed it though. That may change now of course, if I'm one of the lucky bastards who gets accepted into beta

@Hamma : yeah well I'm in dept with my bank, just not Visa(or whatever) lol

EDIT : added reply to Hamma

Kussy · 2002-11-08, 10:30 AM

if they only would charge the shipment costs, but 15 $ for the BETA CD?

crazy men

Spoot: hehe, wear a coat und buissines-jacket and everything will be all-right

CoolAid · 2002-11-08, 12:06 PM

I bet they only charge 6$ for a beta CD .. For the U.S. Thats what Sims online was charging ... I would go with out a T.V. before i would cancel my DSL... Although I download all my favorite shows....

GhostRanger · 2002-11-08, 12:31 PM

Sony has started taking the approach (see star wars galaxies) to start charging the COST ONLY to make and mail cds. That becuase of the size of the games to send on CD. This can be expensive and as a result it cuts into their development budget.

Currently how star wars galaxies is handling it, and planetside will probably be the same, is that you go to the sony online store and order it there. You must have an access code or something like that to get to the sub site to order the beta version. It is like 5 bucks or something like that plus shipping and handling.

Now there has been speculation that they are trying to make a profit on beta. However, if that were the case they would charge more, and the fact that they are contracting with a cd manufacturing company to do the burns, the price works out in specculation to what they ask.

By the time beta is done, the cost of the CDs could rack up into the tens of thousands of dollars to make and send out (SWG is indicating upwards of 5000 people in beta by end of testing). This money if not recouped would affect development budget and some cool features could be cut because of no development.

That being said, generally getting into beta in the early stages is much like Hollywood. Its alot of shmoozing and knowing the right people. Unlike SWG planetside does not have an official forums for people to post. SWG has used this to kind of monitor people there and track individuals who consistantly provide quality input.

I too am a programmer and network analyst. THis you would think would make for a good candidate for beta testing. However, the only betas I have gotten into were those that I have gotten in through others that put in a good word for me.