[Reminder] Are you ready to cry again? (2° Wave of Alpha invites tomorrow, 3 dec.)

[SkyeWindbinder]

You know, small companies with very limited budgets operating on kickstarter manage to get in all their supporters. It's a little unrealistic to argue that Square Enix can't. Just as it's unrealistic to argue that the active community of FFXIV is so big that it's impossible for SE to fit in all those that decided to stick with the game and show their support.

Even arguing that the servers were too limited to fit everyone in, there would have been several ways to make it more fair, like a very simple turnover that closes the alpha to those that have been invited first (and had plenty time to test already) to leave the whole servers free for those that didn't have a chance yet.

It's really very simple. Feedback from those that provided support to the game up to now should have been valued more. Others that have much less resources than SE manage it with no problem. It's simply a pity that it didn't happen.

Abriael, I'm also a supporter of SE, and I've also been around since the early days of 1.0, but I didn't get a single invite.

It's really not the end of the world. I get that you believe that being a longtime sub should get you priority access into alpha, but not everyone agrees with that. At the very least, SE doesn't agree with that. You know, beta is just around the corner. And that's phenomenally better than alpha. Just be patient, you'll get to try the game out for yourself soon enough.

[Abriael]

This is what you think of yourself. I think instead your simple, balanced and rational criticist, perpetrated from the first to the last day of alpha, at this time highly inadeguate. Is that a problem ?

Yes, it is. Considering that I'm simply using the forum for one of the main purposes for which it has been designed and provided t us. Incidentally, I don't think InadeQuate means what you think it means. Unless you think that I'm not criticizing enough. In which case maybe I can provide an encore or ten?

It's really not the end of the world. I get that you believe that being a longtime sub should get you priority access into alpha, but not everyone agrees with that. At the very least, SE doesn't agree with that. You know, beta is just around the corner. And that's phenomenally better than alpha. Just be patient, you'll get to try the game out for yourself soon enough.

Yes. It's not the end of the world. That's why I'm not "angry", "crying" or "butthurt", but I'm instead providing criticism in a balanced and rational way in the midst of a lot of people throwing insults and trying their hardest to antagonize those that dare to be disappointed with the situation.

Very few things are the end of the world. Even ARR launching and after that crashing and burning wouldn't be the end of the world. There are plenty of games to play in the market. This doesn't mean we should provide criticism only on what would be the end of the world.

I'm sure SE doesn't agree with the fact that longtime subscribers should get priority to testing, and that's exactly why I provide my criticism. If they agreed, I and others wouldn't need to criticize at all.

In the same situation other developers simply considered and consider the feedback of their supporters better than SE did (and we're talking about developers that have but a fraction of the resources and budgets SE has). I think bringing it to their attention has value, and that's why I do it.

As for the beta being around the corner, that's great (providing that it's true, as we really don't know and won't until they release the updated roadmap), but it's simply besides the point. As a matter of fact, criticism is important to let SE know that maybe there are better ways to consider the feedback of their long time supporters than they did with the alpha.

[SkyeWindbinder]

Yes. It's not the end of the world. That's why I'm not "angry", "crying" or "butthurt", but I'm instead providing criticism in a balanced and rational way in the midst of a lot of people throwing insults and trying their hardest to antagonize those that dare to be disappointed with the situation.

Very few things are the end of the world. Even ARR launching and after that crashing and burning wouldn't be the end of the world. There are plenty of games to play in the market. This doesn't mean we should provide criticism only on what would be the end of the world.

I'm sure SE doesn't agree with the fact that longtime subscribers should get priority to testing, and that's exactly why I provide my criticism. If they agreed, I and others wouldn't need to criticize at all.

In the same situation other developers simply considered and consider the feedback of their supporters better than SE did (and we're talking about developers that have but a fraction of the resources and budgets SE has). I think bringing it to their attention has value, and that's why I do it.

As for the beta being around the corner, that's great (providing that it's true, as we really don't know and won't until they release the updated roadmap), but it's simply besides the point. As a matter of fact, criticism is important to let SE know that maybe there are better ways to consider the feedback of their long time supporters than they did with the alpha.

Criticism is fine, but remember, you are only criticising as far as your opinion of how things should be. SE, I'm sure, has their reasons for how they handled alpha. I, too, am disappointed for not getting into alpha. But to tell you the truth, whether or not they allow a few loyalists in to test a game's alpha mode doesn't really say that SE doesn't value the opinions of their customers. Some loyalists did get in. Also, some people who haven't been there as long as us got in. We simply weren't amongst the chosen few. It can be a bitter pill to take, but like I said before, I'm sure SE has their reasons. This isn't their first ball game, after all. Anyway, I'm sure those who got in are providing some good feedback (some of them, at least). And our feedback can come later.