Was all excited to see that I got a beta, but it was only for the stress test this weekend, starting Saturday at 10AM... thanks BioWare.

Sounds like a lot more people get to start tomorrow (myself included) than got to start this morning. They're trying to simulate their early launch.

Consular looks fun, especially shadow (have a coworker playing one and he says it's great).

I took a Knight and went Sentinel, and had a blast. Will pick back up there tomorrow.

nin wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 17:22:
Sounds like a lot more people get to start tomorrow (myself included) than got to start this morning. They're trying to simulate their early launch.

Consular looks fun, especially shadow (have a coworker playing one and he says it's great).

I took a Knight and went Sentinel, and had a blast. Will pick back up there tomorrow.

Consular... consular? That's the boring version of the Sith Inquisitor right? : )

I played a Sith Inq Ass (Tank/dps) on my 5 day weekend a month or so back... Had a lot of fun, and want to see where the story goes. I've never been a 'have to be a unique class' kind of guy, but I am a little concerned about the potential over population of Inq's at launch.

-Alamar

Consular... consular? That's the boring version of the Sith Inquisitor right? : )

I played a Sith Inq Ass (Tank/dps) on my 5 day weekend a month or so back... Had a lot of fun, and want to see where the story goes. I've never been a 'have to be a unique class' kind of guy, but I am a little concerned about the potential over population of Inq's at launch.

After years of WOW, I was never a fan of melee DPS, but I've enjoyed the Jedi so far. And yeah, I worry about the same thing with Jedi. That zone is going to be ROUGH during the first month due to sheer numbers. My original plan was to play force based characters in the beta and them come back to them last, for that very reason. But now I'm having to rethink things.

As far as the sith, I want to save something for the retail product.

eunichron wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 17:11:
Was all excited to see that I got a beta, but it was only for the stress test this weekend, starting Saturday at 10AM... thanks BioWare.

Yeah, me too. Some people don't even get in till Sunday. What a boneheaded move. Talk about how not to win over people.

This class needs a nerf big time. Sages/Sorcerers are by far the most powerful class.

The only class that can come close to matching it endgame is the Powertech.

eunichron wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 17:11:
Was all excited to see that I got a beta, but it was only for the stress test this weekend, starting Saturday at 10AM... thanks BioWare.

Yeah I got the same deal, and of course I was part of the group that got screwed over on the 11/11/11 weekend where nothing was working properly at all.

Lol, forget having a late start date, I've heard about some people waiting 6-8 hours in a queue before getting on a server.

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 18:15:
Lol, forget having a late start date, I've heard about some people waiting 6-8 hours in a queue before getting on a server.

Gotta stress test those queues : )

nin,
Never been a big SW fan(atic), but there is something about the 'whoosh' of a light saber : )

I meant to add that I would try sorc instead of ass this time, but I do like that they play somewhat like enhance shammies.

-Alamar

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 18:15:
Lol, forget having a late start date, I've heard about some people waiting 6-8 hours in a queue before getting on a server.

And they didn't go to a different server because...?

If they insisted on playing on a server that had a huge wait time, that's really their own fault. Right now for example, there are only 3 servers with queues, the rest are all instant.

Teddy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 21:40:

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 18:15:
Lol, forget having a late start date, I've heard about some people waiting 6-8 hours in a queue before getting on a server.

And they didn't go to a different server because...?

If they insisted on playing on a server that had a huge wait time, that's really their own fault. Right now for example, there are only 3 servers with queues, the rest are all instant.

Ah, I found the story about it, has a screenshot of all the queues being 3-8 hours. Must have been a peak time: PC Gamer

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 21:47:

Teddy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 21:40:

jacobvandy wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 18:15:
Lol, forget having a late start date, I've heard about some people waiting 6-8 hours in a queue before getting on a server.

And they didn't go to a different server because...?

If they insisted on playing on a server that had a huge wait time, that's really their own fault. Right now for example, there are only 3 servers with queues, the rest are all instant.

Ah, I found the story about it, has a screenshot of all the queues being 3-8 hours. Must have been a peak time: PC Gamer

Bizarre. I logged off and on a few times over the course of the day and my server screen never looked anything like that. That said, note that some of the servers say German, perhaps the EU servers were worse off than the NA ones.

What bothers me about this beta weekend is that they got thousands of people downloading 20-30 gigs worth of data. Waiting upwards of a week for more info. And they let them in Saturday at 10AM and it ends Sunday at midnight. That's not even 48 hours of opportunity to login for all your time invested up to this point.

I mean Ive been in the beta for awhile, and that pisses me off. I have friends who I had to convince to get in and they didn't even give them the holiday and the weekend to mess around. Gave them a day and a half at best if there are no problems....and they are going to take the servers down (probably wipe the temp servers) so that means you have repeat yourself the next time they give you 36 hours to try to login.

And the game prior to this massive influx of people has been having huge lag spikes, whether it's due to code or server issues. I hate to see my friends just flat out waste their time for a bunch of downloading/sign-up/lag/other problems the chance to play won't even make up for. And both of them are star wars fans.

No one twists their arms to come in, it's a beta test and it's voluntary to help Bioware test their systems...

If you've paid for access to a beta product you have expectations of something higher (eg. minecraft), not when the offer to test isn't dependent on you buying something.

Plus I'm sure there are millions of other nuts who would be more than willing to take their keys... =)

Been playing over this w'end and I'm surprised at just how stable the build is. There are certainly still a few rough edges to polish off ( I wish the UI was unlockable and configurable) but generally it's been a pretty fine experience.

Asmo wrote on Nov 26, 2011, 03:15:
No one twists their arms to come in, it's a beta test and it's voluntary to help Bioware test their systems...

If you've paid for access to a beta product you have expectations of something higher (eg. minecraft), not when the offer to test isn't dependent on you buying something.

Plus I'm sure there are millions of other nuts who would be more than willing to take their keys... =)

Been playing over this w'end and I'm surprised at just how stable the build is. There are certainly still a few rough edges to polish off ( I wish the UI was unlockable and configurable) but generally it's been a pretty fine experience.

Oh there's technical nothing wrong with what you say. Beta being voluntary, but they don't tell them before they download when they will test or how long that test will be. So they download that 20-30 gigs of data and wait. One waited almost 3 weeks to hear when he would be allowed in after being told he'd be taken in soon. Starts Saturday at noon, I am not even sure he knows it ends Sunday and he's out again after that.


As for giving away your key, once it's used it's tied to an Origin account created at the same time you created your SWTOR beta account. If you use your existing Origin account it's linked to all your purchases and CC info, etc. So you can't just give that account to someone else without basically giving the other person your street address at a minimum, game collection and purchasing info otherwise. And THAT is not even really clear either that your SWTOR account is tied directly to your origin account info or an origin account created in your name with the same login info.

As for the build claims, no idea. They put out a patch thursday evening, prior to that the server was still getting huge lag spikes every ~10 minutes even in the dead hours. I'll say this though, the content you see at low levels especially the first Flashpoint and all it's dialog and stuff, is not present in future flashpoints. Reminds me of Age of Conan's city of Tortuga, it's misleading.


My best guesses at this point. This current weekend beta ends, Nov 27/28th depending on your time zone. The game is set for release Dec 20, they offer up to 5 days headstart to preorders. So that makes the start Dec 15th if they hold up that 5 days. That leaves 2 and a half weeks prior to it. And Im guessing they take the servers for wipe, maintenance, upgrades, etc at the end of the weekend prior to the 15th if not earlier. So that would be Dec 11 or 12. That leaves two weeks to generate a gold version and put the game out. And I can't even guess what kind of lead time they need on that to get the CDs pressed and the boxes out on time....I think 10 days would be pushing it.

This comment was edited on Nov 26, 2011, 05:49.

Veterator wrote on Nov 25, 2011, 23:52:
What bothers me about this beta weekend is that they got thousands of people downloading 20-30 gigs worth of data. Waiting upwards of a week for more info. And they let them in Saturday at 10AM and it ends Sunday at midnight. That's not even 48 hours of opportunity to login for all your time invested up to this point.

I mean Ive been in the beta for awhile, and that pisses me off. I have friends who I had to convince to get in and they didn't even give them the holiday and the weekend to mess around. Gave them a day and a half at best if there are no problems....and they are going to take the servers down (probably wipe the temp servers) so that means you have repeat yourself the next time they give you 36 hours to try to login.

And the game prior to this massive influx of people has been having huge lag spikes, whether it's due to code or server issues. I hate to see my friends just flat out waste their time for a bunch of downloading/sign-up/lag/other problems the chance to play won't even make up for. And both of them are star wars fans.

It's a stress test. The game launches in less than a month! Criminey. They're not going to give you weeks of beta access so you can burn out and not buy the retail product. If your friends are fans, and your experience with the beta has been relatively positive, then tell them to buy the game when it's out.

These kids nowadays... it's like "beta test" means "free game."

It really shouldn't take more than a weekend to realize this game isn't worth a pre-order or the list price. Wait until the price drops, it will be the same game with the same limited lifespan.

Strees test my ass, it's a marketing beta. It means they're afraid to let people take a real look at the game. 'Nuff said.

Umbragen wrote on Nov 26, 2011, 08:12:
It really shouldn't take more than a weekend to realize this game isn't worth a pre-order or the list price. Wait until the price drops, it will be the same game with the same limited lifespan.

Yes, that's why there are 30-40 servers all full with hours-long queues at the moment -- just as they were yesterday. People are so disappointed with the game I guess they're just falling asleep at their keyboards.

Cutter wrote on Nov 26, 2011, 13:39:
Strees test my ass, it's a marketing beta. It means they're afraid to let people take a real look at the game. 'Nuff said.

You're usually smarter than this. Every MMORPG has a stress test--usually an open beta--to prepare for the launch. I don't see what's so unusual about it.