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Can we order a disc with the download on it?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Just talked to my ISP which is Sattelite. They told me i wouldn't be able to download the whole thing it would take several days. Thats because of their Fair act policy if we go over that we do not get on the internet for 24 hrs. So Can we order a disc of this download stuff and the patch so we can play?
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    and yes my internet sucks!!!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Not as far as I know of, however, do you have any libraries near you? They usually provide free Wi-fi access, if you have a laptop, that is.. Otherwise you're pretty much out of luck I think, unless theres a player that you trust that is willing to send you a copy on a DVD or something.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    I was asking the same thing yesterday, and from what I can gather, there's no option to buy a CD with the download on it and have it sent to you. It drives me nuts that so few companies that run MMOs offer this as an option for customers; I had similar problems when I tried to get started playing WoW- glacial download speeds, huge patch files, overloaded download servers... and when I asked tech support at Blizzard about getting a CD, they admitted that it was sometimes an option, but that they wouldn't allow people to request it. Apparently, the decision to send out a CD with the necessary patches to, y'know, play the game you paid for was solely the domain of tech support. After a few fantasies about sending my monthly payment to Blizzard one penny at a time, since that's about how fast I was getting the stuff necessary to play their game, I ended up canceling my subscription.

    I'm a huge Trek fan, and while I understand that this is the beta, so problems are to be expected, it concerns me that Cryptic didn't anticipate this level of popularity and take some steps to at least make the downloading of the game a bit easier. I really, really hope that this isn't a sign of things to come, and I'm not going to be impressed if I end up with a game that's virtually unplayable because I can't get gigs worth of patches because the servers are swamped. I preordered this largely because of access to the beta, and now it's looking like I'll be shafted on that because Cryptic couldn't be better prepared for the massive interest this game has generated or even offer something as simple as a CD for people to order in lieu of wrestling with these downloads. That would have mitigated some of the strain on the servers and make it easier for people to get their hands on the beta.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    There is indeed an option to pay for a DVD to be sent to you, but that would the retail DVD and they won't be available until the 2nd.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Just as a quick note also about your type of internet connection. Sattelite is TERRIBLE for any online gaming because of it's really high latency. Have you ever played online games with it before? It must be like a slide show...

    Any retailer, as previously posted, should have the game on DVD.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    My Family uses satillite and we where able to play WoW just fine. Its in the download area we have problems.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    coderanger wrote:
    There is indeed an option to pay for a DVD to be sent to you, but that would the retail DVD and they won't be available until the 2nd.

    Which doesn't really help those of us who preordered specifically for access to the beta/head start. If your servers weren't up to handling this volume of people all trying to download the beta, maybe it shouldn't have been quite so widely advertised specifically as a reason to preorder the game. The fact that it was is no fault of the customers that have responded to your advertising. As it is, I've already shelled out seven bucks to File Planet to expedite the download somewhat; I would have happily given that money to Cryptic if it meant getting a disc with the beta files on it (heck, I'd have paid ten for that). I'm also left wondering whether I should expect the same, glacial download speeds when future patches are released (and that's ignoring all of the booting and queuing issues people seem to be having once they actually get the files they need to try and play).

    And to be honest, I don't really appreciate snark from a representative for a company to whom I'm going to be giving a decent chunk of money (especially when you consider the monthly fees) in order to play this game, especially in light of what a disaster the distribution of this beta seems to have been thus far. If this is indicative of the level of customer service I can expect in the future, I've got to say, I'm pretty unimpressed. The download issues are annoying, but somewhat understandable.Coupled with the attitude in your post, though, I'm definitely rethinking my purchase, and I'll bet I'm not the only one.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010

    And to be honest, I don't really appreciate snark from a representative for a company to whom I'm going to be giving a decent chunk of money (especially when you consider the monthly fees) in order to play this game, especially in light of what a disaster the distribution of this beta seems to have been thus far. If this is indicative of the level of customer service I can expect in the future, I've got to say, I'm pretty unimpressed. The download issues are annoying, but somewhat understandable.Coupled with the attitude in your post, though, I'm definitely rethinking my purchase, and I'll bet I'm not the only one.

    I have to agree here. That was an unnecessarily brusque comment from a Dev in regards to a serious question from a user looking to receive the services he paid for (as this was part of preordering the game). And as said, does not help with either wanting to play their beta slot, or in fact their headstart. The rudeness was uncalled for.


    To address the original poster's problem. Try using a torrent instead as it allows you to stop and restart as needed as to not violate your ISP's more annoying policies.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Korvin wrote:
    Any retailer, as previously posted, should have the game on DVD.

    Which will be great once release day rolls around, but Cryptic is advertising (through all of these retailers) that you should preorder the game so that you can get access to the beta and get a head start on your character. Unsurprisingly to most of us (except, it would seem, to Cryptic), people responded enthusiastically and preordered from various sources to get the beta code. I know that was what prompted me to bother with a preorder when I could have just waited and wandered into GameStop on 2/2 and bought the game then. The fact that Cryptic didn't seem to plan for such a huge surge of people trying to access their servers is raising some justifiable questions from people who are spending hours trying to get the beta client. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to wonder whether this apparent lack of preparation on Cryptic's part is an indicator of what to expect when the official release drops (or when it's necessary to download patches in the future).

    And all of that aside, Coderanger's reply was not only unhelpful, it was unnecessarily sarcastic and condescending, and as an employee of the company to whom I'm giving my money, I would have hoped he'd be able to restrain himself. That was pretty out of order. If you have nothing nice to say, and all of that.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    This has nothing to do with the servers - this has to do with Satellite's fair act policy. Satellite is throttling the bandwidth usage of users and if you want to download STO in a short period of time you need to exceed 500kb/s for a few hours (1mb/s still takes a couple of hours). That will activate Satellite's fair act policy and cause them to throttle or shut down the internet. This has to do with file size.

    Also, what snark? What attitude? The Dev gave a straight answer without any of the flowery word ******** that normally accompanies it. He answered directly and gave clear information. There was no snark or attitude.

    Finally, this is the first few HOURS of the first DAY of a TWO WEEK "open" beta. Chill out and relax. Betas are intended to stress servers and do all sorts of buggy testing. Betas are not meant to be your time to play the game before everyone else and brag. There will be slow times. There will be bugs. There will be server crashes and kicks. That is why it is called a BETA. Unless you have nothing else better to do than sit around playing a beta of a game - you won't even save your stuff, either, so this is essentially pointless - stop complaining.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Well, that was certainly- oh, wait, I'm sorry. That wasn't helpful or constructive at all.

    The fact that Cryptic's servers are buckling under the number of people trying to access this game isn't some collective hallucination everyone's having: Cryptic themselves are acknowledging that both downloads of the beta client and attempts to log into the game itself are meeting with major problems due to the volume of people now interested in participating in this beta. All well and good, except that Cryptic's responses give the impression that they had no way of anticipating this surge of interest which is, if you'll pardon my bluntness, a pile. Cryptic specifically advertised participation in this beta as a reason to preorder the game. I'm sure they have statistics on how many people have preordered, so they must have had at least a vague idea of how many people were going to be logging on when this thing opened. I don't think it's out of line to ask why they didn't at least have another server or two open.

    And for all the people saying, "It's a beta! Don't you idiots know what a beta is?" Yes, I know what a beta is. But if you're going to advertise this thing all over creation (I saw posters encouraging preorders to participate in the open beta as early as November), you ought to be prepared for the volume of people you're going to get, and you ought to be prepared to deal with a lot of irritated people who don't know all the ins and outs of beta testing. If that's not something you can do, hey, fine. Just don't advertise the open beta as part of a preorder package for the game. When people have already shelled out money, even a relatively small amount of money, the expect stuff to work as advertised. Cryptic should have been able to see this one coming, and it's the fact that they couldn't/didn't that makes me wonder.
    Also, what snark? What attitude? The Dev gave a straight answer without any of the flowery word ******** that normally accompanies it. He answered directly and gave clear information. There was no snark or attitude.

    You're kidding, right? The dev didn't give an answer at all. A straight answer would have been, "Sorry, the beta files aren't available on CD. Try X for a download that better suits your IP situation." Instead, he condescendingly informed us that yes, there is a way to get the game on a DVD... by buying it on 2/2. Wow, thanks! We had no idea! He was obviously aware that we know where to get the official release, but he completely ignored the complaints and questions regarding the beta in favor of being snide. You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but yeah, that response from someone representing Cryptic, especially in light of all the issues people are having with this beta, was rude.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    That was not condescending in any way whatsoever. His answer did two things:

    1. Informed everyone that there was no DVD version currently available.
    2. Informed everyone that there will be a DVD version available for the retail release.

    He did not insult, degrade, make fun of, use a sarcastic tone on, or otherwise attempt to insinuate stupidity of the person he was answering.

    --

    Cryptic also advertised pre-order benefits like the Collector's Edition set of physical items and guest passes, the multiple pre-order bonuses that happen at retail release (that is a common practice in other games) for different stores, and the head start. The "beta participation" is by far the least useful of all the pre-order bonuses. If you pre-ordered the game specifically to play a buggy, slow version that won't have any effect on your actual playing time whatsoever, you shafted yourself.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    He did not insult, degrade, make fun of, use a sarcastic tone on, or otherwise attempt to insinuate stupidity of the person he was answering.

    Sorry, but I disagree. Stating something as mindblowingly obvious as, "You can get the game on DVD when it's released on 2/2" isn't being helpful or answering the original question (which was about the beta client, not the official release), it's being deliberately condescending. Do you really think that the OP wasn't aware that if he purchased the official game on 2/2, he could do so by going into a store and buying it on a DVD? C'mon.
    If you pre-ordered the game specifically to play a buggy, slow version that won't have any effect on your actual playing time whatsoever, you shafted yourself.

    If all I cared about was leveling up as quickly as possible, then maybe so, but that's not the only thing on my mind. And I notice that you don't actually bother to address the fact that by advertising this beta thing so heavily, Cryptic made their own bed here. Random people preordering this thing at Best Buy or Gamestop or wherever aren't necessarily going to know all of the ins and outs of beta testing, and they're not likely to care much about them, either. All they see are, "Play SFO early!" and putting down their money. Cryptic was counting on that- why else would they bother advertising the open beta as a "perk" of preordering in the first place? It wasn't as if this was listed as just some incidental thing; there were posters all over Best Buy as early as November advertising the open beta. Given that, I'd think that Cryptic could have seen this surge of interest coming (and really, don't they get statistics about the number of preorders?) and acted accordingly, but it's pretty clear from most of the posts on this forum that they didn't.

    Anyway, it's pretty obvious that we're not going to agree on this, so there's probably not much point in continuing this back and forth. You think that Cryptic are doing a bang-up job, and I disagree. It is what it is.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Sargun wrote: »
    Finally, this is the first few HOURS of the first DAY of a TWO WEEK "open" beta. Chill out and relax. Betas are intended to stress servers and do all sorts of buggy testing. Betas are not meant to be your time to play the game before everyone else and brag. There will be slow times. There will be bugs. There will be server crashes and kicks. That is why it is called a BETA. Unless you have nothing else better to do than sit around playing a beta of a game - you won't even save your stuff, either, so this is essentially pointless - stop complaining.

    You obviously fail to realize that other people are complaining because the open beta was a HUGE part of the preorder promotion. What better way to get acquainted with the game than playing it before it comes out? We understand there will be errors and bugs and slow times, as well as times that we will be unable to connect, but the fact that it takes days to download the actual beta client, and at that speed, is simply unacceptable. Just from the first day of download catastrophe, how many people have probably thrown their hands up and said f*** it?

    You can't even use the Head Start because it requires the beta client. And by the time some people download the client successfully, it will be time to pick up their copy at the retail store anyway. FaustianSlip is right in posting everything that has been stated because it reflects poorly on Cryptic. Any grade school kid could see that if you promote something heavily, you should logically expect more of a turnout, so logically you should make it easier to dowload the client.

    Sargun is right that the dev guy did state information - that is obvious and not helpful at all. They probably realized there was a hemmorage of dissatisfied people on the forums and delegated the low guy on the totem pole to stem the tide.

    The fact is that they can't solve it now, it's too late. They failed to take basic steps BEFORE beta, to ensure that this didn't happen. Not only are people frustrated about this, but it brings doubt about the final product.

    Bottom line - Cryptic is TRIBBLE for not expecting a huge demand for a Star Trek IP MMO to finally launch, let alone promote the heck out of it before hand, while not having sufficient means to download the client.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Anyway, it's pretty obvious that we're not going to agree on this, though, so there's probably not much point in continuing this back and forth. You think that Cryptic are doing a bang-up job, and I disagree. It is what it is.
    I don't believe Cryptic are doing a bang-up job. I acknowledge the fact that Cryptic is a company. I also acknowledge the fact that advertising rarely tells the full truth. I'm just not that angry that a beta isn't going as smooth as it possibly could.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    wow i never thought this question would get so much attention. I don't appriciate being talked down to like the cryptic person kinda did I took offense by that i'm not stupid and i did buy the blasted game but i did buy it for 2 reasons the game itself and to play it early. It's not my fault cryptic dropped the ball by over estimating the public love for star trek. In fact i'm a senior member to Everquest to and have been there since launch and have never been talked to like that from SONY. I'm wondering if i should cancel my copy till i get an appology since it is my hard earned money i am giving them. Yes my internet sucks but i have don't everything everone has told me. Go to a place with better internet. Did that and the download is still at 0. It's not the other places ISP I know we checked. Plus my computer is at a computer repair shop using their business cable internet which they get almost 300.00 kbps download speed. I'm not at all impressed at attitude or service let alone customer service. Most Cryptic people have been nice about my questions. I just think the one that talked bad towards this post needs a nap or doesn't feel good and needs to go home and rest. the stress is too much for them at the moment. The way I look at this is it may be a free look into the game early but I have paid for services not rendering and i would like some respect since it's not my fault. And I'm not taking the phrase it's only money lightly. so when cryptic wants to take things differently great i'll be waiting.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    I'm sorry I find this super funny. Like very very funny. I'm sorry that you guys have bad internet-but how is that Cryptics fault? I've been playing Betas since Everquest, this is pretty smooth. Sure the file is big and its a pain-sure a dvd would be nice, but if you would have asked and paypal(ed) me money for a DVD I would have happily copied my zipped file for you to enjoy-and I'm sure there are many here that would. I understand some people have net that takes a long time to dowload or can't download because of bandwith issues-this is why you have friends or family that DONT have this issue just download the zip FOR you and burn over. If you have no family or friends that can do that-then you just have to wait. Not missing much anyway, we play for 20mins get D/C'd then have to come back in.

    If you don't like that Cyrpic "lied" to you about being able to play beta (which they didn't they can't control your computer or download speed), cancel your pre-order and wait for it. Feb 2nd isn't that far away.

    Edit: There is more than one place to DL it. Dont like the Downloader? Use Torrent. Dont like Torrent? Use Filefront. I was dl at 700kb/s from Filefront when I broke down and paid 5bucks for the membership. I was DL at over 100kb/s with the torrent.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    I'm sorry that you guys have bad internet-but how is that Cryptics fault?

    The fact that I'm having way more trouble downloading the beta client than I have downloading anything else indicates to me that it's probably not my internet connection that's the problem. I can't speak for the OP, though in some countries, download caps are increasingly common, and to me, it makes sense to consider that if you're a company trying to market a game internationally. But that's just me.

    But yes, Cryptic is as pure and blameless as the baby Jesus, and all of the issues people are having are a mass hallucination. Carry on.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    The fact that I'm having way more trouble downloading the beta client than I have downloading anything else indicates to me that it's probably not my internet connection that's the problem. I can't speak for the OP, though in some countries, download caps are increasingly common, and to me, it makes sense to consider that if you're a company trying to market a game internationally. But that's just me.

    But yes, Cryptic is as pure and blameless as the baby Jesus, and all of the issues people are having are a mass hallucination. Carry on.

    Download the Torrent, or Download the file from Filefront. Problem solved.
    Remember people who dont even have a key are downloading the file just to have it.

    Never said Cryptic was blameless-I just siad the fact that some people have caps on internet speed or usage isn't Cryptics fault.

    Also wait for it.... here it comes..... This is a...... BETA!!!! :-p
    Every MMO I've played in the Beta Stage (WoW, STO, EQ1/2, COH) Has had issues in beta stage, I'm actually suprised I've gotten to play at all today.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Gawron wrote:
    I'm sorry I find this super funny. Like very very funny....

    There is more than one place to DL it. Dont like the Downloader? Use Torrent. Dont like Torrent? Use Filefront. I was dl at 700kb/s from Filefront when I broke down and paid 5bucks for the membership. I was DL at over 100kb/s with the torrent.

    Apparently we have a late-comer to the massive threads being generated about this. We have several different threads about different ways to d/l the client. The point, once again, is that Crypic didn't anticipate this WHILE promoting the preorder. Perhaps you should read the threads before posting?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Yeah, as has been discussed in other threads, I get that it's a beta. But you know what? When your company makes the decision to advertise the hell out of a beta as if it were actually a demo or early-access pass to the full release, you're going to get a bunch of neophytes who don't have appropriate expectetions or an understanding of what an open beta is about. So don't act like an TRIBBLE when one of them asks a reasonable question, just say, "No, there's no CD/DVD available for the beta stuff because XYZ" and move on. I think most people can figure out that being obnoxious to your company's customers is usually a bad PR move.

    Cryptic's major misstep here was to tie the open beta to the preorder advertising at all. They should've posted ads on Kotaku and other gaming sites advertising free keys for anyone who wanted one- then they would have gotten people who had a better understanding of what an open beta test is about and saved themselves a lot of annoyance. Instead, they've probably ended up losing people who don't get the beta concept, tried to download the client or tried to play after downloading the client, had a horrible experience and cancelled their preorder. It really wasn't a great move.

    And as Captain Vox says, this isn't even about playing the beta. This is about all the issues people are having just with downloading the damn client- and it's not just people with slow internet connections that are experiencing these problems. That's my issue- I have no issues with the beta itself because I can't even play the thing yet.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    NERD RAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Look, this is what happens with the release of a new MMO. Look at WoW or most any of the others. The problem is that most people wouldn't know how to operate a torrent client if it landed on their face and started to wiggle. The truth is, you would be just as angry even if you had the client right now, there are server overloads and bugs galore (to be expected).

    Just chill out a bit, go do something NOT on the computer (like read a book, hang out with other humans or *gasp* go outside and get some sun/snow and see what life is like outside of your parents basement).

    Finally, for those on satellite, I REALLY hope that you are using that because you HAVE to and not by choice. Do you maybe have a friend that can burn it to DVD and send it to you?

    Again, just relax, this thing is in it's infancy, there are bound to be growing pains, they will be worked out. (No, I am not paid by cryptic, I've just been here before with other MMO's, it happens.)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    This isn't even about playing the beta. This is about all the issues people are having just with downloading the damn client- and it's not just people with slow internet connections that are experiencing these problems. That's my issue- I have no issues with the beta itself because I can't even play the thing yet.

    And that's the bottom line - not that the beta experience itself will be bad/disappointing/frustrating, but that we can't even download it. People are mad at Cryptic because they basically dropped the ball on downloadability.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    CaptainVox wrote: »
    Apparently we have a late-comer to the massive threads being generated about this. We have several different threads about different ways to d/l the client. The point, once again, is that Crypic didn't anticipate this WHILE promoting the preorder. Perhaps you should read the threads before posting?

    If there are several threads about this issue-why post at all? Just to complain? Hypocrite much?

    Again as I said before-if people would be willing to pay for shipping and the dvd, I'm sure we can have some people willing to do it. I would be one of them-I have no issue with people who see an issue and work towards a solution, I just think its funny that we have so much nerd rage about something that Cryptic has nothing to do with. I'm just guessing you guys have never played an MMO before, try raiding 40 man Naxx when severs would just lock up for 10mins then come back with you all dead. Try falling through Molton Core and see every other raid falling around you. Try Downloading a 1gb content patch only to have it patched the next day because people can't use it. Not being able to DL a file from ONE (when there are many) sorces isn't the end of the world-if you are upset over the principle cancel your pre-order and teach Cryptic a lesson! LOL
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