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Massively soapbox article: "The Soft Launch Scam"

edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
edited July 2013 in General Discussion (PC)
Excerpt:
"Back in the golden days of video games, there was no such thing as a soft launch. Nintendo didn't send out test copies of Super Mario World to special "backers," and Sega didn't ship half-finished Sonic games with promises of further content updates. Games, for the most part, were played only after they were finished, printed, packaged, and shipped. Even on PC, beta testing was more of an earned honor exclusive to players that showed dedication to a title and its community.

Here in these modern times of Internets and always-ons, however, things are different. It would seem as though developers need only make enough game content to shoot a reasonably convincing trailer before the publishing team can begin collecting money by slapping a "BETA" sticker on the webpage and offering fans early access.

Over the last few years soft launches have become increasingly common -- especially for creators of online games. The line between "in testing" and "done" is becoming blurred, and publishers are reaping the benefits while players suffer."

Continued in article: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/11/the-soapbox-the-soft-launch-scam/

Interesting read that is clearly referring to Neverwinter (and other games). Discuss!
Post edited by edgenw on
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Comments

  • frariifrarii Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    THIS is the golden era of videogames... last year 15000 millions... yeah fifteen thousand million dollars industry...
  • bookwyrmmbookwyrmm Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 94
    edited June 2013
    As has been mentioned time and time again, it is becoming an industry practice. The producers (not the devs) know that people will pay to play the game when it isn't quite polished.

    Why shouldn't they go with it if the market will bear it? No one forces people to spend money on the games.
    "Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien
  • o0spoonman0oo0spoonman0o Member Posts: 31
    edited June 2013
    The article is spot on, I'm waiting for well formed arguments. But I fear it's just going to be more NW fanboys with their blinders on
  • linuxx40linuxx40 Member Posts: 47
    edited June 2013
    so much more to games today than yesterday...
  • o0spoonman0oo0spoonman0o Member Posts: 31
    edited June 2013
    bookwyrmm wrote: »
    As has been mentioned time and time again, it is becoming an industry practice. The producers (not the devs) know that people will pay to play the game when it isn't quite polished.

    There are lots of industries that have lots of questionable practices. This practice should be stopped IMO, and the only way it's gonna happen is if gamers stop paying for half baked <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> products.
  • nullwolf1nullwolf1 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The article is spot on, I'm waiting for well formed arguments. But I fear it's just going to be more NW fanboys with their blinders on

    Arguments for what?
    The Beta / Not Beta arguments that regularly pop up?
    The argument that it is / isn't a scam for this or that reason?

    Arguing against an opinion or editorial piece is a like arguing with the wind...
    It's someone's opinion, let them have it, read it if you want, then move on with your existence.
    hEB72341B
  • katbozejziemikatbozejziemi Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 856 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    frarii wrote: »
    THIS is the golden era of videogames...
    HAHAHAHA


    No.
  • losse1losse1 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I know it does kind of suck but at the same time nothing has changed. I remember when wow released, that is 'released' it was like playing a beta anyway. Servers were down a ton and lag was horendous. They went through sooo many server upgrades. And that was 10 years ago.

    On the contrary, i would say Rifts launch was the smoothest I have ever seen. So I dunno, some companies just suck more than others I guess.
    "The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy. The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose." -Charles Dickens
  • highropeshighropes Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 103
    edited June 2013
    I love Neverwinter and of course I have to admit this is absolutely true. There is no sience in this, however. Every age of gaming has its strong and weak points. You can't see only the dark side of "always-on" era. You can now play with your friends no matter the distance. In case of some bug (which is way more likely to be found given huge beta testing via "soft launch"), there was virtually no way to fix it. Remember Dune 2 how you could exploit Ordos Deviator and aim at your enemy even after you lost control over that unit? Luckily there was no competitive gameplay, no money on stack for winning GSL, etc..
  • bioxragebioxrage Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Won't stop me from playing and supporting games I enjoy. I figure each hour I enjoy is worth $10, as my time is scarce I don't mind spending some cash on Zen/Upgrades.

    I just hope the money spent to support the "beta" or "early stages" are developed further, unlike games such as "minecraft."

    To be fair, Perfect World Inc. has several reputable games, and have been around for quite some time, I doubt they would make something half-assed such as "The WarZ."

    Keep in mind you also have 75% of a community asking for a the full game, so rather publishers just create something such as "Alpha/Beta" to give the community what they want.

    As a company it's difficult to please the consumers, because you have 50/50 of those who enjoy it and are fine, and the other whom seem to "dis-like" it, yet they still play it.

    Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions, that is a glimpse of mine.
  • edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    losse1 wrote: »
    I know it does kind of suck but at the same time nothing has changed. I remember when wow released, that is 'released' it was like playing a beta anyway. Servers were down a ton and lag was horendous. They went through sooo many server upgrades. And that was 10 years ago.

    On the contrary, i would say Rifts launch was the smoothest I have ever seen. So I dunno, some companies just suck more than others I guess.

    Your complaint about WoW is really not in any way fair, however (and trust me, I am beyond tired of WoW at this point and not jumping to their defense, but I am trying to be reasonable and realistic).

    When WoW launched, EQ was holding the North American subscription records at 500,000 users. Blizzard was ready to handle that. What they were not ready for (and what nobody could have predicted) was how the userbase insanely exploded beyond all expectations, and practically overnight.

    The truth is, WoW worked just fine by the end of beta. The reason so many players put up with WoW's horrible launch was because they had played through until the end of beta, and by the end of beta the game worked wonderfully, and so they knew deep down that the game was good - when it worked. But as impressive as the population in beta was, it was a drop in the bucket to the flood that came at launch. Thus, WoW's growing pains were understandable.

    An example of what's not understandable is a statement made recently by Gazilion's support regarding the launch problems of their "Marvel Heroes" MMO. In it, they wrote:
    "Gazillion as a whole isn't a big company, and our staffing decisions were made with our normal launch expectations in mind. We were ready for launch, but we weren't ready for the issues we had, which couldn't have been predicted."

    And that, I feel, is a good example of a cop out. There isn't an MMO that releases today, now, post-WoW, that should "not be ready for the issues". There have been more than enough examples of MMO launches out there to take note of. W

    hile Blizzard's problems with WoW were more understandable, when is the last time an MMO had truly unpredictable problems? These days, it's more like problems that developers choose to ignore with the hope of addressing them later, a decision made all the more attractive once you convince users to start throwing money your way.
  • mutharexmutharex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    The article is spot on, I'm waiting for well formed arguments. But I fear it's just going to be more NW fanboys with their blinders on

    No one forced you to play or pay before 'launch' day, or did they? So?
    Ah OP, WoW had bugs (like getting stuck while looting or gathering) for 6-7 months AFTER release, that should have never survived beta.
    Exactly like today
  • ironzerg79ironzerg79 Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 4,942 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Comparing a modern day MMO to Super Mario Brothers? Really? Is that the best they can come up with?

    Super Mario Brothers shipped "feature complete". Good for them.

    But we've come along way since then. Any argument that starts out with "back in the golden age..." is pretty ridiculous. It's like arguing that horses were far superior to cars because your new car got a flat tire on the way home from the dealership, and that NEVER would've happened with a horse.
    "Meanwhile in the moderator's lounge..."
    i7TZDZK.gif?1
  • edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    mutharex wrote: »
    Ah OP, WoW had bugs (like getting stuck while looting or gathering) for 6-7 months AFTER release, that should have never survived beta.
    Yes, I definitely remember getting stuck while looting or crafting. However, that problem was a result of an overload on their database systems that only showed up once you threw a million players at the game (a scenario that did not show up in beta, nor did anyone predict happening back in those days when EQ had only managed to peak at 500k subs).

    And that problem was fixed within the first month? 6-7 months is total hogwash.

    Anyway, not really interested in playing Blizzard Ancient History, so back to the main topic.
  • edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    ironzerg79 wrote: »
    Comparing a modern day MMO to Super Mario Brothers? Really? Is that the best they can come up with?

    Super Mario Brothers shipped "feature complete". Good for them.

    But we've come along way since then. Any argument that starts out with "back in the golden age..." is pretty ridiculous. It's like arguing that horses were far superior to cars because your new car got a flat tire on the way home from the dealership, and that NEVER would've happened with a horse.

    I think you're completely missing the point if you're allowing yourself to get hung up on the opening comment in the article. You might want to read the whole thing. Or not, up to you!
  • mutharexmutharex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    edgenw wrote: »
    Yes, I definitely remember getting stuck while looting or crafting. However, that problem was a result of an overload on their database systems that only showed up once you threw a million players at the game (a scenario that did not show up in beta, nor did anyone predict happening back in those days when EQ had only managed to peak at 500k subs).

    And that problem was fixed within the first month? 6-7 months is total hogwash.

    Anyway, not really interested in playing Blizzard Ancient History, so back to the main topic.

    No, the bug happened only with particular nodes (you'd learn to avoid them), it was a bug and lasted months. You are thinking of the stuck-while-looting-lets-wait-for-the-server-to-catch-up problem, that was for the issue you mentioned. But really, I think you are looking to the past with rose tinted glasses, like all humans do :)
  • s3pts3pt Member Posts: 177 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    Article is dead on.

    Unfortunately nothing will change as long as eager fanboys with more money than sense continue throwing money at publishers/developers for the "privilege" of testing.
  • edge1986edge1986 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 647 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    ironzerg79 wrote: »
    Comparing a modern day MMO to Super Mario Brothers? Really? Is that the best they can come up with?

    Super Mario Brothers shipped "feature complete". Good for them.

    But we've come along way since then. Any argument that starts out with "back in the golden age..." is pretty ridiculous. It's like arguing that horses were far superior to cars because your new car got a flat tire on the way home from the dealership, and that NEVER would've happened with a horse.

    Always some ignorant fanboy with no brain trying to spout off BS, lol.
  • kwequakwequa Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Sooner or later consumer protection is gonna wade in. Too much cash moving. ;)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • tinukedatinukeda Member Posts: 499 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Riddle me this: at what point do you declare a constantly evolving product like an MMO to be "done" and "ready for sale"?
  • mutharexmutharex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    I love people talking about crusades and boycotts against devs while wearing their gap jeans and nike shoes and sipping their nespresso....
  • edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    mutharex wrote: »
    No, the bug happened only with particular nodes (you'd learn to avoid them), it was a bug and lasted months. You are thinking of the stuck-while-looting-lets-wait-for-the-server-to-catch-up problem, that was for the issue you mentioned. But really, I think you are looking to the past with rose tinted glasses, like all humans do :)

    Yes, there were definitely resource nodes that were broken and got you "stuck", and that bug did persist for a while. But you had mentioned "looting" in addition to gathering, which was a launch issue (crafting items had the same problem.. basically anything that was going to introduce "something" into your inventory). And that was a database overload issue that was resolved quickly.

    The bugged resource nodes did go on for a while, though. I'll never suggest any game launches bug free, but while WoW had some pretty bad issues at launch that made it extremely difficult to play, they were a result of its ridiculous success that couldn't have been predicted beforehand. Newer MMOs no longer have the luxury of making that mistake.
  • edgenwedgenw Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 124 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    tinukeda wrote: »
    Riddle me this: at what point do you declare a constantly evolving product like an MMO to be "done" and "ready for sale"?

    When they start selling goods.
  • tinukedatinukeda Member Posts: 499 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    edgenw wrote: »
    When they start selling goods.

    Well then, we're just arguing meaningless semantics in that case.
  • edge1986edge1986 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 647 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2013
    mutharex wrote: »
    I love people talking about crusades and boycotts against devs while wearing their gap jeans and nike shoes and sipping their nespresso....

    What is a nespresso?
  • mutharexmutharex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Dunno OP, I remember also the "arcane missiles now working as intended" patch note appearing for over a year....

    The point is, today there are games that would never be able to launch and survive if they didn't do this sort of 'soft launch'. They gather more money for more development time, all the while offering some 'service' to eager fans. No one forces them to pay for it, they can easily wait for 'launch' to play. One good example is STO:launch was awful but already a year later was quite a good (in its subgenre) and today is an excellent game.
    I don't mind putting up with the bugs, if you do, well, you can always wait for launch. Or 3 months laters, like it would be wise with a MMO.

    No one is forcing anyone, it's just an opportunity to play early and help economically a game you enjoy
  • mutharexmutharex Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    edge1986 wrote: »
    What is a nespresso?

    The fact you are asking makes you instantly likeable by me. Whatever you follow up with
  • lerdocixlerdocix Member Posts: 897 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    edgenw wrote: »
    Interesting read that is clearly referring to every single game released in the past few years and every single game in the future. Discuss!
    Fixed for you. Thats how it goes in modern world, developers used to have time to do things and these things were much more simple, now publishers force early releases of games that have failing chance because of that, examples are countless in almost any genre.
  • klugemaker1klugemaker1 Member Posts: 21 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    Nonesense!

    Everyone knows World of Warcraft was only good in Alpha; soon as it went Beta it turned into casual gamer <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> with everything dumbed down for the n00bs.
  • mitotemitote Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 42 Arc User
    edited June 2013
    This game is a huge scam.
    They were not prepared for ANYTHING but still send you emails with bonus zen offers for future PURCHASES,while tickets remain unanswered FOR WEEKS.

    We all got scammed. Delete game and move on.
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