Beta access/details?

[Sephrick]

The biggest thing I want to know is how billing is going to be sorted out.

In my case, I'll be charged next in the second week of September. If Alpha starts late Sept./early Oct., am I paying a reduced price for a shorter period?

I know $10 seems trivial but I like maintaining my budget down to the cent, and not knowing how much I'm going to be billed in three weeks bothers me.

[Aegis]

The biggest thing I want to know is how billing is going to be sorted out.

In my case, I'll be charged next in the second week of September. If Alpha starts late Sept./early Oct., am I paying a reduced price for a shorter period?

I know $10 seems trivial but I like maintaining my budget down to the cent, and not knowing how much I'm going to be billed in three weeks bothers me.

From how I interpret the billing system, no-one will pay into the beta. Since the payment arrangements don't allow SE to change the sum due without an agreement from us I would assume you pay up to the last full month before beta, and the time remaining from your last payment until beta start date is free.

ie if beta starts on 15th Oct and your last payment covers up to 16th Sep you won't pay for the remaining 29 days.

I could be entirely wrong, however.

[Etheos]

I am sure there are a lot of us that believe that we (current subscribers/Legacy) should be given access to the Beta. I, for one, being one of those players would like to discuss this. Being a Legacy member I am always open to more perks than a Chocobo, name in the credits, and a discount on the subscription. Some details do grab my attention though...

Chocobo - A small token of appreciation given to us by Yoshi P himself. While I agree that this is a great gift to give us, it leaves me wondering, besides it being designed by him, what is the benefit? Does it go faster? Is it going to be the first chocobo in FFXIV that can fly before regular subscribers can obtain one? I'll elaborate on that, say for instance we get our chocobo when ARR releases, and it does fly...How long would it be a suitable time before other players get an equivalent? My point is, what does this chocobo have that sets it apart from others without taking cosmetics into effect?

Name in the credits - First question some would ask...who is going to look at the credits besides ourselves, to see our own name? How did we honestly contribute to the production of the game other than suggestions in the forums? I for one had some suggestions here and there and how am I to know if any of them honestly were put into place because of my suggestion? Anyway, I will be looking for my name, might even take a screenshot.

Lower Subscription Rate - Before anyone gets off on this whole "This is the same company that has Final Fantasy XI", lets just take it off the table. Ok, now..you have a company with a fresh MMO that didn't do all that well in the beginning and we all know what happened from there. Ok, now look around at other MMO's. How many of them are going to a FTP model? Do we honestly expect Final Fantasy XIV: ARR to make it as a P2P model? More and more MMOs are going to FTP with "Cash Bank" systems to make that money. Now, let's bring back FFXI into the picture. A strong MMO but never a powerhouse for subscriptions. It has kept a steady playerbase and honestly is one of the best MMO's in the history. BUT can ARR really come back from where it started to even be on the same platform as XI? I say, if it doesn't this game will eventually go FTP.

With all of this being said, yes, I do believe we deserve access to the Beta as Legacy members. We deserve it. I would go as far to say that SE has made enough money from us to honor a nice FTP Beta. It would be a nice nod from the developers besides the perks above to let us know that we really did make a difference in the ARR model.

We have been on these forums making suggestions for ARR since it started, why wouldn't you want us to see our work first hand, first?

[Punainen]

I really want to get into beta, but if I don't, I'll pick up Etrian Odyssey again, and probably spend more time out biking. But I know I'd rather be in beta.

[Aegis]

yes, I do believe we deserve access to the Beta as Legacy members. We deserve it.

We paid to play X|V as is, that is what we got. There is no 'deserve'. This is pretty much the definition of entitlement.

[Sephrick]

From how I interpret the billing system, no-one will pay into the beta. Since the payment arrangements don't allow SE to change the sum due without an agreement from us I would assume you pay up to the last full month before beta, and the time remaining from your last payment until beta start date is free.

ie if beta starts on 15th Oct and your last payment covers up to 16th Sep you won't pay for the remaining 29 days.

I could be entirely wrong, however.

That could end up annoying a lot of people.

Let's assume beta starts Oct. 15, and starting Sept. 16 is free. What about people who have payments due now through Sept. 15? They're essentially paying just as much for less. Free is free, but if my payment is due within days of that Sept.16 line am I supposed to cancel my account for a few days or does my free period start sooner than others?

It's a really tricky issue.

[Etheos]

We paid to play X|V as is, that is what we got. There is no 'deserve'. This is pretty much the definition of entitlement.

Yes, and by paying we have made a choice to stand behind our gaming company and prove that we believe in what they are doing. Would it not be equally divine of them to return the favor and let us be guaranteed that we will be included in the Beta?

[Aegis]

They returned the favour by honouring their side of the contract. No more, no less.

Now, would it be great if they showed their appreciation of their market by giving us dibs on Beta places? yes.

But we do not 'deserve' them.

[Onisake]

Chocobo - A small token of appreciation given to us by Yoshi P himself. While I agree that this is a great gift to give us, it leaves me wondering, besides it being designed by him, what is the benefit? Does it go faster? Is it going to be the first chocobo in FFXIV that can fly before regular subscribers can obtain one? I'll elaborate on that, say for instance we get our chocobo when ARR releases, and it does fly...How long would it be a suitable time before other players get an equivalent? My point is, what does this chocobo have that sets it apart from others without taking cosmetics into effect?

I'm pretty sure it's cosmetic only. they aren't going to just GIVE us something super mega badass. it's too unfair of an advantage over those just starting the game. i dont' expect it to run faster. i don't expect it to be a standard chocobo with standard stats that looks different.

Lower Subscription Rate - Before anyone gets off on this whole "This is the same company that has Final Fantasy XI", lets just take it off the table. Ok, now..you have a company with a fresh MMO that didn't do all that well in the beginning and we all know what happened from there. Ok, now look around at other MMO's. How many of them are going to a FTP model? Do we honestly expect Final Fantasy XIV: ARR to make it as a P2P model? More and more MMOs are going to FTP with "Cash Bank" systems to make that money. Now, let's bring back FFXI into the picture. A strong MMO but never a powerhouse for subscriptions. It has kept a steady playerbase and honestly is one of the best MMO's in the history. BUT can ARR really come back from where it started to even be on the same platform as XI? I say, if it doesn't this game will eventually go FTP.

the crysta thing SE has setup on their main website could serve as a FTP/cashmall setup. However the subscription method was successful for FFXI. it can be successful for FFXIV. It was successful for WoW too. a lot of MMOs are going FTP, but look at the publishers who are doing this. many of them are not big name publishers. even bioware is small compared to SE.

PTP and FTP are two very different models. and imo it depends on the type of community you want to breed. if you take a look at League of Legends, a very successful free game, the community is complete and utter garbage. you cannot play a game without getting a troll of somesort. in a MOBA that's fine, it's almost encourage. but in a real mmorpg you really do not want that. a ptp model can protect you, because you can just make a new account whenever you want or have an alt you use purely for trolling. people love to troll, but very few are willing to actually pay to troll.

With all of this being said, yes, I do believe we deserve access to the Beta as Legacy members. We deserve it. I would go as far to say that SE has made enough money from us to honor a nice FTP Beta. It would be a nice nod from the developers besides the perks above to let us know that we really did make a difference in the ARR model.

We have been on these forums making suggestions for ARR since it started, why wouldn't you want us to see our work first hand, first?

we dont' deserve anything. we were not forced to play. we chose to play. i personally have legacy status. but I quit for several months. i played for a couple months after beta. thought the game was not worth my time. and waited for the devs to fix the broken. does someone who played all the way through beta till now deserve a spot more than i do?

some would say yes. but on what grounds? I've beta tested several games. including TSW, mech warrior online, FFXIV1.0, wakfu, LoL and many others. i know what devs are looking for at certain stages of beta. I also have greater knowledge of PCs than the average player. i know how to troubleshoot hardware/software problems and can help pinpoint what triggers a bug and help recognize patterns in incompatibility. what really makes you more qualified/deserving than anyone else? nothing... because i don't deserve to get in more than anyone else does.

[Etheos]

Ok, I like that we are at least discussing this. I do, retract my previous statement of "Deserve" and replace it with an above statement from another stating it would be nice if they showed their appreciation by allowing us into the beta with guarantee.