Global Alpha Test Start Date

[Skies]

Abriael, you need to realize that when people say 'entitlement' they mean 'self-entitlement'. You are, in fact, only entitled to something that is given to you, you cannot entitle, yourself, something that belongs to another. Saying something silly like "I bought the CE so I should have a subscription discount" is self-entitlement, because you are giving something to yourself that is not yours to give (a discount in this case).

Of course, actually, i'm very sure you know what people MEAN even if it is not really what they are writing, gramatically, but I felt like pointing out. That said, let's move on a bit more.

In previous events such as the cons where ARR information was released, you need to remember that they DID also hand out alpha/beta invites, at least I remember such. And the page says "Active account" but we might have a different definition from "active" than they do for some reason, we need to clear up what they mean by it. They could consider an account that exists but haven't been played in an year to be 'active'.

Also, finally, I still think that this is a case of Operations trumping over everything. It's a fact, operational needs will trump over absolutely everything and it's up to the other teams to catch up to them. Maybe they should have changed that page, maybe PR isn't moving as fast as they could. They are definitely not wrong in how they sent their invites, the invites fit the operational needs, but some other things could have been done better, yes.

Also- I am fairly sure that they ARE sending invites based on what was applied through their system, they wouldn't want to invite a person who has no interest in participating, so showing interest through application is the best way to screen that. If the person was able to apply, but haven't played in a year and a half, for some reason, he was eligible.

EDIT: Also, he actually said that what you have spent on your rig is not a condition of alpha test entitlement. He is fully correct in saying that. Might not be what he wanted to say but that is what he said.

[Starlord]

"no matter the fact you paid for a product! You're not entitled to anything! Bow to the might of Square Enix! They can do whatever they like without being held accountable in any way!"

Well said indeed.

Or not.

K

/10charimastic

[Abriael]

Abriael, you need to realize that when people say 'entitlement' they mean 'self-entitlement'. You are, in fact, only entitled to something that is given to you, you cannot entitle, yourself, something that belongs to another. Saying something silly like "I bought the CE so I should have a subscription discount" is self-entitlement, because you are giving something to yourself that is not yours to give (a discount in this case).

If you want to talk about self entitlement, may want to use the correct term. Mind you, self entitlement isn't necessarily a negative concept as well. It keeps companies on their toes, and they normally do actively try to catch up to it.

Paying customers are entirely in their right to suggest what they feel they should be entitled to. Their pleas may or may not be listened and put in action (but normally companies will take them very seriously), but there's nothing wrong in expressing it. The company/customer relationship is already unbalanced towards the former as it is.

This is actually something I find absolutely peculiar of MMORPG forums. There are people that think other people asking more for their money is somehow a bad or immoral thing, and feel the need to defend a company (that will never give them the light of day and for which they're no more than a number on a quartely financial report) from the "ebil entitled customer!"

For instance I made a thread before the end event saying something on the like "hey, wouldn't it be cool if SE gave those that participate to the final battle a little account-bound memento to carry over to ARR?" then i proceeded to list a few very mild and inexpensive examples like a broken relic house decoration and stuff like that.

It surprised me (only partially) to see many responses on the note of "you bad entitled customer! How do you dare ask for more out of poor endangered panda Square Enix!"

It cracks me up every time i remember it.

In previous events such as the cons where ARR information was released, you need to remember that they DID also hand out alpha/beta invites, at least I remember such. And the page says "Active account" but we might have a different definition from "active" than they do for some reason, we need to clear up what they mean by it. They could consider an account that exists but haven't been played in an year to be 'active'.

We know what they mean by it, by the simple fact that for the majority of the alpha application process if you tried to apply with an inactive account it'd tell you (I paraphrase): "Your account ain't active. Piss off"

Also, finally, I still think that this is a case of Operations trumping over everything. It's a fact, operational needs will trump over absolutely everything and it's up to the other teams to catch up to them. Maybe they should have changed that page, maybe PR isn't moving as fast as they could. They are definitely not wrong in how they sent their invites, the invites fit the operational needs, but some other things could have been done better, yes.

Doesn't normally work like that. Any public action a developer takes normally goes through marketing first, because customer satisfaction actually trumps everything. Which is why I think the problem was of technical nature.

Also- I am fairly sure that they ARE sending invites based on what was applied through their system, they wouldn't want to invite a person who has no interest in participating, so showing interest through application is the best way to screen that. If the person was able to apply, but haven't played in a year and a half, for some reason, he was eligible.

Not really. The internet is full of people that apply to every single MMO beta they find just because they want a new game (no matter how polished) to play for a couple hours for free.

The more you unrestrict application, the more you risk to catch a large number of those.

Also, he actually said that what you have spent on your rig is not a condition of alpha test entitlement. He is fully correct in saying that. Might not be what he wanted to say but that is what he said.

It was an obvious catch-all derogatory definition to antagonize those that dare being disappointed about not being selected, especially since I don't see many people (if all) complaining because they made a 4k computer for FFXIV and didn't get into the beta.

[Reinheart]

After watching the open conference session with YoshiP I have even more confidence with YoshiP so it's safe to say don't worry... he knows all of us who stuck loyal to this game all this time is waiting to try out ARR.

Just hang in there guys, it's next week already when he starts adding the next batch of people and after that him and the team will try their best to get as much in as possible for the ARR and try and keep them servers till near end of December... which if you look at it.. it's only additional 3-4 weeks. Seems like long time for some (most?) but it's really not that long when you think about it. He knows he needs to keep us entertained with new info and such so pretty sure those will be in place every week as well, maybe he'll be able to get some footage from beta since we have almost seen everything from alpha already.

I think it's good time to say close this thread already & for people to just wait... don't create more threads about not being able to get in alpha... I want in too just like eveyrone but posting about it and whining about it is going no where. Dev team needs to make sure the tests are being done correctly and efficiently to get the most results so they can fine tune the final game, once those are done they will give us the 3rd world for others to join the alpha test servers to try the alpha version out.

[SkyeWindbinder]

Wait, people are seriously still crying about this? Seriously?

Wow, the butthurt is strong! I'm glad I didn't get this butthurt when I didn't get selected to get into alpha! lol

[Shougun]

After watching the open conference session with YoshiP I have even more confidence with YoshiP so it's safe to say don't worry... he knows all of us who stuck loyal to this game all this time is waiting to try out ARR.

Just hang in there guys, it's next week already when he starts adding the next batch of people and after that him and the team will try their best to get as much in as possible for the ARR and try and keep them servers till near end of December... which if you look at it.. it's only additional 3-4 weeks. Seems like long time for some (most?) but it's really not that long when you think about it. He knows he needs to keep us entertained with new info and such so pretty sure those will be in place every week as well, maybe he'll be able to get some footage from beta since we have almost seen everything from alpha already.

I think it's good time to say close this thread already & for people to just wait... don't create more threads about not being able to get in alpha... I want in too just like eveyrone but posting about it and whining about it is going no where. Dev team needs to make sure the tests are being done correctly and efficiently to get the most results so they can fine tune the final game, once those are done they will give us the 3rd world for others to join the alpha test servers to try the alpha version out.

I really enjoyed reading that last translation you did from the stream.

Also *waves to come closer*

*whispers* Get me an invite...

[Abriael]

After watching the open conference session with YoshiP I have even more confidence with YoshiP so it's safe to say don't worry... he knows all of us who stuck loyal to this game all this time is waiting to try out ARR.

I'm sure he does Reinheart. Mind you, I have almost total confidence in Yoshida.

The problem is that Yoshida doesn't handle this kind of things directly. I'm almost sure (say 90%) that Yoshida didn't have the slightest idea that opening the final event to everyone would have also opened alpha applications to everyone (as again, I'm almost sure that's what happened), and his reaction to it was "WTF happened here?!" when he caught wind of it.

If Square Enix was made of 2000 Yoshida-clones, I'd be a LOT more confident in the smaller middle-man decisions that are out of his hands but can still damage his work.

[yukikaze_yanagi]

Abriael please, this butthurt is gone too far. After several pages you almost monopolized i think you're over reacting from too much :/ and i'm not entered in alpha, and i'm very angry looking my linkshell companions who made it

The good news is i'm a sackholder, so every time they sung the world "alpha" i hit them with the ban hammer with divine fury (for 5 min)

[HiirNoivl]

I ignored Abriel 5 pages ago. I don't know why you keep responding to his posts.

That said, how many gil will you bet me that there will be a thread that complains about only being invited to Alpha for the last week of testing?

[Abriael]

Abriael please, this butthurt is gone too far.

"butthurt" is a rather extreme and antagonizing word. I'm nowhere near "butthurt". I do, though feel the need to remind people that think that SE is above the rules they set on their own, and that whoever dares to hold them to those rules is "self entitled", that this simply isn't the case, as some people seem to have very large problems grasping that concept.

I also find rather distasteful how some people continue to antagonize and straight insult those that dare to be disappointed about something that's very naturally disappointing. So yeah, I feel the need to respond to those.

It's a good reminder for the future, and hopefully it won't happen again.