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Gamebreaker: is Neverwinter really in Open Beta?
edgenw
Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
No idea why the title got cropped. That's going to be confusing...
Anyway, we see this discussion pop up on the forums every so often. Looks like the media has taken a stab at the question. I already have my own opinions, but just thought people might appreciate seeing the article.
http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/does-open-beta-really-apply-to-neverwinter/
(I included the article here, but it got chopped during a title edit.. forum seems to be freaking out, might a limit to the amount of text in a single post.)
Anyway, we see this discussion pop up on the forums every so often. Looks like the media has taken a stab at the question. I already have my own opinions, but just thought people might appreciate seeing the article.
http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/does-open-beta-really-apply-to-neverwinter/
(I included the article here, but it got chopped during a title edit.. forum seems to be freaking out, might a limit to the amount of text in a single post.)
Post edited by edgenw on
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This is their breakdown, at least:
The Breakdown
The simple truth is this. They can call it what they wish, but Neverwinter has launched. It is a fully functional MMO with an operational cash shop, persistent characters that will not be wiped, what seems like a fairly large player-base, and content updates on their way. Be honest Cryptic. That’s not Open Beta. But as players we seem unable to accept the fact that MMOs need a little time to sort out all the bugs and issues that their game has. Despite the fact that every game ever launches with problems, we seem to expect perfection at launch. We’ve lost touch with the reality of MMO game launch at some point.
If a game wants an open beta period, that’s fine, they deserve it, but don’t go full-on launch mode and then try to call it open beta. It insults the intelligence of most of your players.
Players have a right to criticize games for things they do not like and problems the game has, but you should never write an MMO off in its first few weeks of existence. An MMO is a growing, evolving world, and most of the time you will find that these games only improve with age.
Be patient, have fun, enjoy your time in the game. That goes for both the players and the developers.
Exactly. It is unfortunate that many people conflate loyalty to a company/game with defending an obviously deceptive premise.
I have no issues putting cash into Open Betas.
I play another one now (non-MMO Warframe) that I'm a Founder on and have bought some of their in-game currency separately.
I just payed $10 for Zen so that I can unlock 2 more character slots and maybe buy something from the cash shop here.
These days, developers are under more pressure to get their games out there, even if they aren't finished yet.
It's Open Beta until it's done.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
If PWE listed the game as OB instead of LIVE.
Something as simple as that would be a good start.
Of course despite many people pointing it out they haven't yet so i'm guessing someone important somewhere is either lazy or mentally <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> or just likes forum abuse.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Hah. That sounds more like wishful thinking. If those statements were actually reality, more than a few recently launched MMOs would have to drop their "launched/live" status and begin calling themselves "beta" again.
Some of them probably should.
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
An MMO is never done? Bugs, balance, new content means continuous patching until the doors close.
On the other hand, "Open Beta until the servers shut down!" sounds like a great rallying cry for this situation.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
That's some odd thinking there. If they insist this is a next generation, triple-A MMO title, does that make it true just because the developer labels it as so? Or does the public decide that?
Reminds me of this joke by Abraham Lincoln:
"How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg."
You missed the true meaning of what I wrote. Sarcasm is involved.
Nepht and Dr Deflecto on primus
So true, except I'm not sure if people ever were in touch with reality.
Sarcasm yes but a lot of truth there too just look at Forsaken world, it was pretty darned polished at OBT but they still kept it in that state for nearly two months.
http://nw.perfectworld.com/news/?p=896631
Speaking of testing, as we progress through OBT and near the official live launch, we'll be standing up a Public Test Shard or PTS. That way we can make "Wild West" changes on there and ensure that only quality fixes make it into the OBT. To those who have played our other games, you probably know that this is one of the main ways that we fix bugs, collect feedback, and stress test our games before the content goes to the live servers.
If you need to create a test server in your game to test features, specifically so that untested content doesn't make it onto your current servers, then your current servers obviously are not test servers. They are live servers, and that makes the game live.
-Travail.
Pretty much this ^
Looks like PWE / Cryptic are truely going for insulting the NW player base intelligence with this statement .
unfortunately it has many fans like the dragon trollip above that will suck dog <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> off their man hood if they asked him too.
Even worse is people mistake passion for hatred. When people see a player complaining about the game they don't stop to think that he really loves the game and wants it to better. It frustrates him that it's not the game it could be. Some do just want to hate but many do not.
This is my favourite line of the article but unfortunately it seems a few minority people are already ignorant enough to believe everything and anything Cryptic tell us.
[e] Apparently the edit system is bugged as hell.
That's my situation, loved this game until they put money before it's long term success
I fixed it for all the folks that have a hard time reading.
Yeah a public test server for a public test server does not make any sense.
The test server will be a platform that is used to test patches. That is something you want in place day one. Currently we ARE the test server. Hence BETA. Once Neverwinter launches there will be no more patches to the "LIVE" servers without first being tested in a "TEST" environment.
It makes perfect sense, if you consider that the current OBT servers will become the live servers.
No one has actually been able to answer that question. Suppose you are right and the game isn't in open beta? Then what?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The game still feels dirty to me,knowing a lot of exploited xp and loot will get by,but as the writer here stated. To write off a game in the first few weeks is not giving a team of devs who did work their asses off a fair shot.. Horrible choices aside.
Still pushing for a wipe tho...
Quote Originally Posted by roents
It's an "open beta" that can't be wiped even in the midst of multiple economy destroying exploits. FUN
Who is more to blame people willing to buy a unfinished product(in-game items) or the Dev's for trying to take the money when the game is unfinished?
I will say this if Cryptic showed me anything its NEVER spend money on ANYTHING Labeled "open beta".
You both might want to read that announcement again. The public test server is going to be brought online while we're still in open beta test period, not delayed until after the game "officially launches". Patches that pass quality checks on the public test server will then make their way to the.. public open beta test servers. If that sounds redundant and/or stupid, it's because it is (and, really, only because they want to keep labeling these three shards as public open beta test servers, with us all as the "testers").
I don't think it matters except in the case of the media. If the media starts to review Neverwinter now as a live, launched product, then it really doesn't matter what Cryptic wants to call it. The various media outlets (and their reviews and review scores) will reach more eyes than Cryptic ever could, and if the media as a whole starts calling the game live, then Cryptic is going to have to drop the charade sooner rather than later. And that also means losing the ability to use a beta label as a shield.
I think that will also have an impact on how other companies use this "tactic" going forward. If it ends up working wonderfully for Cryptic because nobody is willing to call their bluff, then expect to see other companies abusing the beta label in the future. If, instead, the media makes a justified mockery out of the silliness being pulled here, other companies may be more reluctant to go this route. It will keep them more honest.