Global Alpha Test Start Date

[Soukyuu]

If this is not true the why is everyone feeling so entitled, if inactives are not getting in why all the butthurt, people believe inactives are getting in, a messed up script possibly but I do not believe anything unless I see the evidence....

I had the same stance as you before I saw an inactive account passing the check with my own eyes. Ultimately though, this doesn't matter. If those inactive players get in but don't log in, the login ratio will drop, which means we will get a new wave of invites. Yes, it's silly inactives are getting in in the first place, but hey, mistakes happen. It just means there is a certain delay for some people.

As to why people rage about not getting in is beyond me. It's just a stress test. The majority of the content isn't in, as stated in the interviews.

[Abriael]

Yes, it's silly inactives are getting in in the first place, but hey, mistakes happen. It just means there is a certain delay for some people.

Mistakes happen, and I'm very willing to be forgiving towards them when they are recognized and amended. That's why we're all here in the first place no? This whole game is a big mistake, but SE recognized it and is trying to make amends.

I feel much less willing to be forgiving if the mistake is swept under the rug without so much as a word, though.

I know you are on attack mode but I didnt mean it as an excuse. I meant it as a way to effectively talk about SE position on the matter. SE obviously isnt following the expected/general idea of what it means to be active - so inorder to effectively discuss the conversation it may be best to realign information.

SE obviously was following the expected/general idea of what means to be active, as lapsed accounts were initially bounced as the application was opened, and were bounced for weeks.

Either some system problem caused the rule to change, or SE changed it intentionally. In the first case, fessing up and apologizing would go a long way, in the second case, that kind of rule changes need to be communicated, for the sake of transparency and even to allow those that tried to initially apply but couldn't to retry.

Honestly, there's no angle I could look at it that justifies SE's current behavior.

If it's a mistake, you apologize.
If it's a change in policy, you communicate it.
If it never happened, you deny the allegation officially instead of deleting the thread about it.

Communication and transparency are always the key in PR. SE seems to have learned this lesson quite a bit ago, so this seems a rather large step back.

[Shougun]

SE obviously was following the expected/general idea of what means to be active, as lapsed accounts were initially bounced as the application was opened.

Either some system problem caused the rule to change, or SE changed it intentionally. In the first case, fessing up and apologizing would go a long way, in the second case, that kind of rule changes need to be communicated, for the sake of transparency and even to allow those that tried to initially apply but couldn't to retry.

Just saw it in another thread - didnt know they where bumping them originally. I wonder if the apps got into the system even though it said it was bumping them.. lol

I agree with what you're saying btw (previously too), though good luck getting SE to say anything except "Please look forward to the next batch of invites" lol.

[Delsus]

I had the same stance as you before I saw an inactive account passing the check with my own eyes. Ultimately though, this doesn't matter. If those inactive players get in but don't log in, the login ratio will drop, which means we will get a new wave of invites. Yes, it's silly inactives are getting in in the first place, but hey, mistakes happen. It just means there is a certain delay for some people.

As to why people rage about not getting in is beyond me. It's just a stress test. The majority of the content isn't in, as stated in the interviews.

As I say, you saw a receipt of acknowledgement not someone getting in, if the final event did mess things up, they may have added a check to the script that selects, therefore it will either take only evidence an inactive got in, or your brother getting in another wave to show inactives are being selected or of course an official statement from a rep.

[DemonFury]

As i do agree that inactive players should not have been invited due to the fact they know not enough about the game and its story-line to be of any help in actually testing a game the fact is that they were and nothing anyone can do about it.

Those that are whining that they are active and did not get an invite would most likely not serve as a good tester anyway they just want to play the game which is not what this is.

This is a testing situation where in you log on the game test as many parts of the game as possible and report back to SE with various Bugs and glitches that were not yet fixed so that they can be fixed not to test out strategies so that when the game goes live you can have a boost ahead of everyone else.

[Abriael]

Those that are whining that they are active and did not get an invite would most likely not serve as a good tester anyway they just want to play the game which is not what this is.

Doesn't it occur to you that many are passionate about getting into the alpha because they want to contribbute to making ARR a better game?

Considering the amount of dedication it took to stick with this game, I don't see it as such an unrealistic possibility. Second guessing the motives of people you don't know doesn't exactly work very well when trying to bring a sensical argument.

Many consider testing a game they're passionate about not only a responsibility, but also a honor, as they're allowed to give their (little as it may be) contribution to the game's development, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[Wynn]

Doesn't it occur to you that many are passionate about getting into the alpha because they want to contribbute to making ARR a better game?

Considering the amount of dedication it took to stick with this game, I don't see it as such an unrealistic possibility. Second guessing the motives of people you don't know doesn't exactly work very well when trying to bring a sensical argument.

I don't know about anyone else but I don't see that. What I see is a group of people who see this presumed golden ticket into the alpha/beta as a status symbol and an entitlement that should have been handed to them without question.

Nobody is blowing up these forums because they are devistated about not hunting down and squashing bugs. People who genuinely want to help in that capacity aren't going to come here and complain about how it is bs they weren't offered a voluntary position nor are they going to start trumping up conspiracy theories about how the system was rigged against them.

If you offer to help your neighbor mow her lawn but she tells you that her nephew is coming to do it so that won't be necessary, do you tell her that's unfair? Do you complain to her that you really feel you care more about her lawn because you live right next to it every day so you should get to mow it? No! That is not the behavior of someone who wants to volunteer help. That is the behavior of a person who feels entitled to some possession, their precious.

There isn't some genuine benevolence in this. What these players are really angry about is that they believe they are more deserving of the magical tester status than the people that were randomly selected for the test.

Everyone knows it, even them, so there is little benefit in pretending about their real intentions. It isn't going to help them in any capacity.

[DemonFury]

Doesn't it occur to you that many are passionate about getting into the alpha because they want to contribbute to making ARR a better game?

Considering the amount of dedication it took to stick with this game, I don't see it as such an unrealistic possibility. Second guessing the motives of people you don't know doesn't exactly work very well when trying to bring a sensical argument.

Many consider testing a game they're passionate about not only a responsibility, but also a honor, as they're allowed to give their (little as it may be) contribution to the game's development, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

honor my ass quit whining you will get in the game when you get in and thats that.. end of discussion

[Abriael]

I don't know about anyone else but I don't see that. What I see is a group of people who see this presumed golden ticket into the alpha/beta as a status symbol and an entitlement that should have been handed to them without question.

Being unable to see different points of view is a serious flaw in discussion. I know quite a lot of people that see testing games in their earlier stages as a responsibility and as an honor. Other simply have a very practical interest in getting their feedback in, because they're allowed to give their insight and contribute to the development of a game they are passionate about.

I know that standpoint very well, as I am one of them.

Hell, at the moment I'm beta testing a MMORPG that is downright crappy. Trudging through it is so unfun that many would consider it a waste of my time (and sometimes I do too). It makes FFXIV's 1.0 launch seem awesome.

But I took the responsibility to help with it and I will, for good or for ill, at least when I feel well enough to subject myself to the most abject of torture.
If my feedback will contribute to mitigate the crappyness, maybe it won't be wasted time.

You being unable to see that kind of point of view, and second guessing people's motives without knowing them and such motives, trying to paint them in the worst possible way, doesn't make it less valid, or a bad thing.

Of course there are also those that see things as you say, and just wanna try the game out before everyone else, but I don't know their percentage, nor you do, and it's not our prerogative to second guess other people's motives.

If you offer to help your neighbor mow her lawn but she tells you that her nephew is coming to do it so that won't be necessary, do you tell her that's unfair? Do you complain to her that you really feel you care more about her lawn because you live right next to it every day so you should get to mow it? No! That is not the behavior of someone who wants to volunteer help. That is the behavior of a person who feels entitled to some possession, their precious.

One of the worst blights on internet discussions are unfitting examples made to explain weak arguments.

This example simply doesn't fit this case. There's no degree of passion or personal interest in mowing your neighbor's lawn. It's *his* lawn and it being good or bad looking doesn't influence your interests in any major way. People don't normally try to mow the lawn of their neighbors because they have a passion for lawns or a practical interest in it being as best as possible.

A MMORPG is a quite different issue. MMORPG communities are very passionate (especially those that stuck with FFXIV up until now, through all the problems) and they do have a very direct interest in contributing to make the game as good as possible, because they want to play it themselves at release and they want it to be successful.

So yeah, your comparison doesn't fit. If someone is passionate about a MMO and wants to contribute as much as possible with their direct feedback and insight, it's not unjustified for them to feel disappointed if this doesn't happen.

It's also completely justified for that disappointment to worsen and become displeasure if the rules determining such possibility are changed without communication, especially if it's in a way that gives access to people that are quite evidently much less passionate about it, and that will statistically test the game less thoroughly and contribute to its development less.

It's even more justified if requests of clarification about the issue are deleted instead of responded.

Trying to paint them in the worst way possible makes you or SE no favors, as it does nothing else than exacerbating conflict with people that are already displeased, with reason.

I agree, that blind faith can be bad but Yoshi and co, have earned my respect with their tireless efforts so I have faith in them they made the right choice for ARR. I'm not going to pretend I know what criteria they chose to use for inviting or qualifying people but there is a reason behind it.

The problem is that we "know" what criteria they chose (or at least what criteria they were supposed to use). It was stated very clearly between the rules on the application form. Quite evidently that criteria was initially applied (because people with an inactive account couldn't apply at all), then things changed, whether it was intentional or not.

When this kind of rules change, it's important to communicate it (even just because the ones that tried to apply initially but couldn't have as much right to apply then those that tried later, but if they aren't told, they can't retry). If the rule didn't change intentionally, but it's an honest mistake (which is the theory i most lean towards), it's important to own to that mistake and apologize.

When dealing with a community and doing PR, communication is *always* the key. Deleting threads is the worst form of closure to communication, and serves no purpose other than making the developer look guilty of something and those that are already dissatisfied become even more so.

I'm sure not disputing the right of Yoshi and co. To chose the criteria they most see fit, but the way SE went about communicating this was very, very lackluster, and people are fully justified in being dissatisfied about that.

honor my ass quit whining you will get in the game when you get in and thats that.. end of discussion

If only discussions ended when someone decided so, right? I suggest to avoid using derogatory terminology just because you know you can't dispute a solid argument. Very few here are "whining". Many are expressing in a rather balanced way a rather rational concern on how SE went about this whole issue and on how they reacted to discontent. The fact that you disagree with it doesn't automatically turn it into "whining".

Personally, I don't care much if i get into the alpha or not. If I do, good, if I don't, good anyway, my "to play" pile is so large that I don't see the end of it, and I have multiple other MMOs to test. What I do not like is being told one thing, and then seeing a completely different thing apply.

It's a very serious issue in PR, and SE better be called on it now than when ARR is launched, as PR blunders like this can cause a lot more damage then. When the game will be under the spotlight.

[Wynn]

...

You didn't need to tell me you are one of the people upset about not getting into the alpha. It is painfully obvious.

You are also still not fooling anyone so try not to kill us all with boredom by writing long-winded posts full of bs.