AN ETA on a Functioning game?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

Why not? 1.0 launched right after beta. It just depends on how they want to handle open beta. Do they want to treat is as an "open beta test" or "open beta" (as in a sneak for the general public.)

---

Beat me to it.

I remember the Open Beta 1.0 servers going down and the next day the actual game went live...but we all know how that song and dance went...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

When can we expect to see an actual release, of a fully functioning game with no "beta" excuse?

It makes me nervous to see so many people screaming Beta again..
It is a bad flash back of FFXIV..
"Oh it's beta, don't worry, it'll get better"

But I'm not seeing much, if any real info, regarding the actual time frame involved.
Even a rough estimate would be nice.
Just please, for the love of God, do not Rush it out again..
But when are we looking at?
Jan? Feb? Mar? Next December?
Anything? lol...

---

http://westernstandard.blogs.com/pho...aqimage009.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

Why not? 1.0 launched right after beta. It just depends on how they want to handle open beta. Do they want to treat is as an "open beta test" or "open beta" (as in a sneak for the general public.)

---

And look how 1.0 turned out xD Hopefully SE have learned that setting a release date before beta has finished is a bad idea.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by inrainbows

And look how 1.0 turned out xD Hopefully SE have learned that setting a release date before beta has finished is a bad idea.

---

That has absolutely no relation with releasing a game right *after* beta. Which is what basically everyone does.

Advocating that there will (or should) be any sizable amount of time between the end of the open beta and release doesn't hold a shred of logic.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Abriael

That has absolutely no relation with releasing a game right *after* beta. Which is what basically everyone does.

Advocating that there will (or should) be any sizable amount of time between the end of the open beta and release doesn't hold a shred of logic.

---

Yes it does. There is this thing called marketing. They will need a specific date to launch the game so the marketing can be effective. My point is if this is decided before beta ends that is a bad idea. (unless phase 4 is essentially a glorified demo)

And plenty of games have a reasonable time between beta and release. Guild Wars 2 beta finished July 22nd and the game launched August 28th.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by inrainbows

Yes it does. There is this thing called marketing. They will need a specific date to launch the game so the marketing can be effective. My point is if this is decided before beta ends that is a bad idea. (unless phase 4 is essentially a glorified demo)

---

You don't know much about "that thing called marketing", do you? The very basic notion of marketing (especially on fields like gaming) is to make it flexible. No game besides the smallest ones has a set in stone marketing plan based on a release date that cannot change, MMORPGs even less.

That besides the fact that developers don't go into betas completely blind. By how the first phases will fare they will have an increasingly precise idea of the final release date, and will be able to adjust their marketing plan accordingly.

Quote:

---

And plenty of games have a reasonable time between beta and release. Guild Wars 2 beta finished July 22nd and the game launched August 28th.

---

That's a very small minority of games. For the vast majority of MMORPG, when it goes into open beta, it's pretty much ready for prime time and there are only some final tweaking and stress testing to be done.

And those few games you mention didn't have a clear roadmap that told their customers that after open beta, you'd get release or an early access at most. I'm not sure what part of this is so hard to understand, really.

Again, advocating that after open beta there will be or there should be a sizable downtime is illogical, and goes against all the facts we have. But some seem to love being misinformative, I noticed.

*sigh*

Sure a release date can change 6 months from release. When it comes to 1-2 months before release and advertisements are going to tv and press the last thing they want is a date change.

ARR already had a roadmap that changed. The current roadmap clearly states "However, given the nature of beta testing (during which we work closely with our customers to improve our products), there may be a need to adjust both the commencement date and the duration of the beta test." Yoshi has stated multiple times they don't want to be completely locked in to a schedule. This is why 1.0 failed. I really hope they take the time they need to make sure launch is successful.

And sure, anyone who has a differing opinion to yours is illogical and misinformative.

Abriael and inrainbows, you need to quit arguing because in reality, you're both right.

Abriael is right in that there should be no significant downtime between the end of beta and the release of the game. Inrainbows is right because the length of the Beta can be adjusted which would put any release date, even were it the day after the beta ends, off schedule.

Yes, they should, and are, take as long as they need to get it right so it doesn't flop. No, there should be no significant downtime between the end of beta and release. Marketing and advertising is flexible enough to deal with any change we may foresee.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by inrainbows

*sigh*

Sure a release date can change 6 months from release. When it comes to 1-2 months before release and advertisements are going to tv and press the last thing they want is a date change.

---

You assume that they are going to put advertisement on TV and on press with a release date much before said release, which is most definitely not needed, nor sensical. Especially with MMORPGs, most heavy advertisement is done very shortly before release, AT release or AFTER release. Before then, if any advertisement is made, it can simply carry a "coming soon", as it did for other MMOs.

MMORPGs aren't like offline games that need to concentrate most of their sales in the release window. Quite the opposite, the more the initial influx of players is staggered, the better is for the developer.

Quote:

---

ARR already had a roadmap that changed. The current roadmap clearly states "However, given the nature of beta testing (during which we work closely with our customers to improve our products), there may be a need to adjust both the commencement date and the duration of the beta test." Yoshi has stated multiple times they don't want to be completely locked in to a schedule. This is why 1.0 failed. I really hope they take the time they need to make sure launch is successful.

---

That is why they gave us a best case scenario and a worst case scenario. Assuming that they'll go past the worst case scenario just because is, again, completely illogical.

Until we have any firm evidence that the worst case scenario will be missed, the release window is between mid april and the end of june. Any other hypothesis is based on hot air. There's absolutely no reason to assume that they'll miss the dates they set on their own as the worst outcome.

It's illogical just like assuming that they'd leave a sizable amount of downtime between open beta and release when they indicated all the downtime in the roadmap, and there's none there.

Quote:

---

And sure, anyone who has a differing opinion to yours is illogical and misinformative.

---

No. Anyone that purposely goes against *all* the data we've been given, without the slightest indication that the data is somehow wrong, is illogical and misinformative.

There's a difference.

And while I can appreciate wanting the team to take the necessary time for a successful release, hoping for them to go past the worst case scenario they indicated, with the mandatory negative impact on the game's hype and on the players' mood, regardless of the game's state (that they knew better than you when they wrote down the roadmap) is nonsensical and actually damaging.

At the moment, we can either trust the roadmap set by yoshida and the development team based on their knowledge of the state of the game, their system and their marketing plan (because you know, that kind of roadmap passes by marketing as well), or your fantasies based on your wishful thinking.

Guess who's most credible.

I rather not have a specified date for release. Why? Because Open beta is when most players get their hands on the game, and I'm talking the people who never played Final Fantasy 14 before, those who hated FF14, and those who are bit iffy about FF14 to begin with or any mmorpg in general. If Open Beta comes and SE sees a ton of complaints and unhappy players, I would think the most sensible thing for SE to do is to not release the game immediately, much less put stress upon themselves with an exact date for it to be out.

So estimated dates are fine but having exact dates, I rather not. If the game isn't ready to be released it shouldn't be. I rather not a FF14 1.0 again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

When can we expect to see an actual release, of a fully functioning game with no "beta" excuse?

It makes me nervous to see so many people screaming Beta again..
It is a bad flash back of FFXIV..
"Oh it's beta, don't worry, it'll get better"

But I'm not seeing much, if any real info, regarding the actual time frame involved.
Even a rough estimate would be nice.
Just please, for the love of God, do not Rush it out again..
But when are we looking at?
Jan? Feb? Mar? Next December?
Anything? lol...

---

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps187a4e87.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by xXHalloweenTrixXx

I rather not have a specified date for release. Why? Because Open beta is when most players get their hands on the game, and I'm talking the people who never played Final Fantasy 14 before, those who hated FF14, and those who are bit iffy about FF14 to begin with or any mmorpg in general. If Open Beta comes and SE sees a ton of complaints and unhappy players, I would think the most sensible thing for SE to do is to not release the game immediately, much less put stress upon themselves with an exact date for it to be out.

---

When a MMORPG goes into open beta it's pretty much ready. If there are large valid complaints, they'll surface much before open beta or they will be irrelevant.

Open betas are, by all means and purposes, more of a marketing tool for promotion and a stress test than an occasion to make any radical changes to the game.

Quote:

---

So estimated dates are fine but having exact dates, I rather not. If the game isn't ready to be released it shouldn't be. I rather not a FF14 1.0 again.

---

The problems with 1.0 surfaced a LOT before open beta. The feedback about them was just ignored.

You can pretty much bet your tail that by open beta we'll have a firm release date. Most probably we will earlier than that. Much earlier.

What we need is some one to take up a teaching stance to share how to recognize a troll and once recognized, how to handle them. Anyone? Anyone at all? This could also be treated like an AA meeting where those that cannot resist responding to troll threads can receive the necessary support not to in the future. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

When can we expect to see an actual release, of a fully functioning game with no "beta" excuse?

It makes me nervous to see so many people screaming Beta again..
It is a bad flash back of FFXIV..
"Oh it's beta, don't worry, it'll get better"

But I'm not seeing much, if any real info, regarding the actual time frame involved.
Even a rough estimate would be nice.
Just please, for the love of God, do not Rush it out again..
But when are we looking at?
Jan? Feb? Mar? Next December?
Anything? lol...

---

Learn to research this stuff, obviously its out there if there are 6 pages of responses

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

When can we expect to see an actual release, of a fully functioning game with no "beta" excuse?

It makes me nervous to see so many people screaming Beta again..
It is a bad flash back of FFXIV..
"Oh it's beta, don't worry, it'll get better"

But I'm not seeing much, if any real info, regarding the actual time frame involved.
Even a rough estimate would be nice.
Just please, for the love of God, do not Rush it out again..
But when are we looking at?
Jan? Feb? Mar? Next December?
Anything? lol...

---

Clearly this guy got on the wrong plane to Sargatanas and wound up on Durandal. We'll get him back to you guys ASAP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alerith

Clearly this guy got on the wrong plane to Sargatanas and wound up on Durandal. We'll get him back to you guys ASAP.

---

We've got enough trouble makers thanks. Send him to Balmung instead, they've been hurting for a troll since BelgianROFL left.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlenCoram

We've got enough trouble makers thanks. Send him to Balmung instead, they've been hurting for a troll since BelgianROFL left.

---

Nah, that's aight. You guys can keep him. >.>

TBH It doesn't matter if the release happens right after beta, or if they take time to fix bugs first. What matters is that if they launch the game officially the day after the beta (or even the same day) that they post a known issues log that takes into account all the bugs found during beta and actively update the list as stuff is fixed. This time around, we need to know that they are paying attention.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LlenCoram

We've got enough trouble makers thanks. Send him to Balmung instead, they've been hurting for a troll since BelgianROFL left.

---

What am I then? A bologna sandwich? :P

1.0 was fail in so many ways it wasn't even funny.
2.0 has no fails from what's been shown. aside from people might complain fighting is to slow or to fast or whatever.
even if 2.0 is released *to early* it's still not gonna flop like 1.0 did, cause it's much more polished by default.
Many games are not perfect at release. And some people gonna whine and quit, even if game is delayed to be polished further; and we don't care about those people anyways. some people are gonna stick around even if it's not delayed further, because any small issue that's still there by given roadmap, will be fixed after release. And any such issue won't likely be very big.
They will listen to peoples ideas and such ofc, but they aren't gonna make any big game changes, that will delay the game. And by phase 4 the game will be basically finished anyways, with all the alpha/beta feedback changes.
I think 1 month/phase is way to much no matter how you look at it, so i don't think there's gonna be a worst case scenario or worse, with july/later launch. But i'll consider OB, and 1.0 chars to be launch anyways :)
I can see that happening in april-may. Any tweaks during OB doesn't matter, it's not gonna *delay* the game anyways, cause for all purposes it's released already. Only problem would be if they had to wipe cause issues with 1.0 migration.
I don't see any reason for delay after beta either. Most games release right after OB.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

What am I then? A bologna sandwich? :P

---

Cat Balogna?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Molly_Millions

What am I then? A bologna sandwich? :P

---

You're not on my (massive) ignore list, so you must be alright!

I do like bologna though. Or mock chicken. Mmmmmm...

Molly has fleas

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vilhem

Molly has fleas

---

Bologna Fleas.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vilhem

Molly has fleas

---

no kittens then Vil?

Never ceases to amaze me at how many people have mean spirits in this game..
Even more sad is how many people support that mean spirit..
Screaming about trolls "while they are actively trolling a topic" lol.. Typical....

I'm just really looking forward to this and I can't stand all these filler games I'm buying, just to hold me over..
Only one game I really want to be playing..
God forbid a person opens his mouth on these forums..

The problem isn't that you opened your mouth. The problem is that you created a new topic when you already got the answer to your question in your first thread.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by finiteHP

The problem isn't that you opened your mouth. The problem is that you created a new topic when you already got the answer to your question in your first thread.

---

I'm not forum savy.. lol... I couldn't find it.. sorry.. :(
And lodestone did that "you cannot log in because your account could not be confirmed thing" So I couldn't respond for weeks until SE fixed it.

I'm not sure why some people here actually blasts someone for not knowing every single official post out there. Maybe it makes themselves feel better?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pseudopsia

I'm not sure why some people here actually blasts someone for not knowing every single official post out there. Maybe it makes themselves feel better?

---

It was my own post. I just didn't know how to find it.. So I can understand that.. XD
Still though.. jeeze.. People would string u up and burn u to death, with a bic lighter around here it seems sometimes..lol..

ETA:

based on the roadmap. 4 Phases + 3 debugging phases. Starting mid february. Average length of each phase 2 weeks. 2 x 7 = 14 weeks / 4 weeks per month = 3.5 months past mid feb = June.

I'm just going to shoot in the dark and guess June 11th-13th would be perfect.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Matsume

ETA:

based on the roadmap. 4 Phases + 3 debugging phases. Starting mid february. Average length of each phase 2 weeks. 2 x 7 = 14 weeks / 4 weeks per month = 3.5 months past mid feb = June.

I'm just going to shoot in the dark and guess June 11th-13th would be perfect.

---

Hence why you are some peoples hero. :)
Thank you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

Hence why you are some peoples hero. :)
Thank you.

---

Lol.. I was also gonna answer your question since half the people in this topic didn't even do that. But yeah a summer release looks like a for sure thing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

Hence why you are some peoples hero. :)
Thank you.

---

I love being a hero 8)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Matsume

I love being a hero 8)

---

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCOPuGBg_W0

I just.. had to..

Lol.. Too funny.

A for sure release also depends on feedback and the beta if they do it right this time.. Judging by how things are going, they're doing it the proper way. So the release could be earlier, or even later than they originally plan.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solace

I just.. had to..

---

We don't Need Another Hero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8W4DEMUSeM