I don't post much, but my take is this. I will not pay to test drive a car; I will not pay to test drive a game. I also feel that developers that can't/won't release a demo before the game hits the shelves are also cheating the gaming community. There is no excuse for not giving us a "taste" of what we are about to potentially buy.

its pretty ironic that blue himself had exlusive demos and what a hippocrite to critizise fileplanets

I'm an edgenetwork admin (the network that runs edgefiles and hosts callofduty) and I really hate the way they're doing this, it would be better for the whole public to have this instead of just an exclusive. Viva Revolution!

Yes!! FIGHT THE POWER!!!

"I am an antichrist!! I am an anarchist!!"

@166
Dammit, if I can't download the demo when it goes public, I'm gonna come over to your house and bust your kneecaps.
=D Just kidding, of course. You know I really wasn't even looking forward to this demo, I just kinda got sucked into the debate.

Hey,AIX Hood: I too noticed that the Bit Torrent websites like yours are missing. I don't think that it an intentional blow against you, just and oversight. I for one really enjoy you hosting demo files, since they are the fastest way to go most of the time. I can only recommend that Filerush also not host the demo, since this significantly reduces the chances of someone getting the file. I don't think people realize just how many folks rely on BT to download files. Well, they will now :):)

Another point I have to make, though I hate to do it: wouldn't this action serve to increase Fileplanet's sunscriber base and profit them, since people will be (more) desperate to download the demo, and as it is not available anywhere else, where are they gonna go? I don't think this number will be anywhere near the number of people who miss out on the demo, since most people aren't dedicated enough to go around the Internet looking for it if it is not readily available. I think that there is a good share of people who don't even know the demo is comming, but rely on news sites to inform them of the demo availability and download loactions. In that sense, I think all you guys (the websites mentioned in the open letter) should also not carry news of the demo. I know you said that you will, but I don't think its a wise move


All in all: Bravo guys

Since offline and online exclusives seem to work quite independantly of each other, I wouldn't be surprised if some PC gaming magazine had it mounted on a coverdisk "exclusively" next week....

Wah. It will be out in a week for everyone else. And Im sure if you really wanted to, you could find it the next day somewhere else.

Stop being babies. There are "exclusive" things all the time in game magazines. Should we boycot PC Gamer because it got a one month exclusive on a game?!?!

Again, stop crying.

I don't see anything like that happening. It is in Activision's best interests to publicly release demos before the games come out. An initial period of exclusivity means little.

So you wouldn't mind for example paying for the next Counterstrike patch to get it let's say two weeks earlier than the rest of the world which won't pay for it?

An initial period of exclusivity means little? Patches and demos are not the same but who will decide where to stop?

I wouldn't pay for the patch, I would wait. Just like I am doing now. Fileplanet needs good services to attract people willing to pay, and so they shelled out the money for an exclusive release.

Honestly, they would have even less incentive to do the same with patches. Those willing to pay extra have consistantly been the minority, so if I pay to upgrade then my version suddenly only works on a few servers! Instead, I wait with the rest of the world, playing on the vast majority of servers (the ones that didn't pay to patch) along with the majority of gamers (the ones that didn't pay to patch).

I applaud the sentiment of protesting this kind of dealmaking that Gamespy so enjoys doing but the end result will be after the exclusivity week is over and no one carries the demo it will only bring more traffic to Fileplanet which will be counterproductive to the idea of making this a negative situation for those companies (GSI and Activision) involved.

still, I guess its a good way to shed more light on the issue as it can only become worse

----------------------------------------------------------------------
PAH!

"It's very much like Valve SELLING COUNTER-STRIKE or Red-Hat selling Linux or other software that is available for free over the internet."

bad analogy... because CS was available as a free mod download when it came out in stores, and redhat linux is usually available even before it comes out in stores, both in unstable and stable form.

-------------
GNSProject.com News Cronie
*What I say is my opinion only, and does not reflect the site I work at.

Boohoo, big frickin deal.

Since when did Blue's News offer downloads anyway?

o you wouldn't mind for example paying for the next Counterstrike patch to get it let's say two weeks earlier than the rest of the world which won't pay for it?

I know I'm not the person you asked, but to some extent, I wouldn't object to this (I would mind but I would not object - there is a difference). OK, I absolutely would not ever pay a penny for a patch and I would be disgusted at a game publisher who attempted this. Patches are fixes for their mistakes and they should be accompied with an apology, not a fee. The difference with CS is that patches mainly include lots of free extras so I could not object to an exclusive for this.

Cheers,
Quboid

Reading the comments is becoming more and more of a chore. The signal to noise ratio is atrocious and only getting worse. Anyways, after a little bit of reflection and attempts to decipher some intelligible points admidst all the comments, my opinion is that this opinion letter is a waste of time. Let fileplanet have exclusive demos for X amount of time. Whoop tee do. They can provide a service to the gaming masses (lol) that can't wait till the demo is public. It's very much like Valve SELLING COUNTER-STRIKE or Red-Hat selling Linux or other software that is available for free over the internet. Someone is providing a service that the patient, informed consumer knows that they do not have to pay for. Yay. I hope they make millions. As readers of bluesnews may know, I really wanted the MidnightClub 2 demo, but it was a fileplanet exclusive. Did I rush out and join fileplanet so that I could have it? HELL NO. I just waited till the publically available demo was released (it wasn't that great) and played it then. I even posted a few times on bluesnews as to whether or not it was out yet, because I was scared Blue wouldn't mention it. Not a big deal. Life goes on. This whole thing is silly.

-----------------------------------------------------
Cry 'havoc', and let slip the dogs o' war!

So whatever happened to publishers using their own resources to hosting their own demos? They have more money than (most) of all these sites anyways; grab some extrea bandwidth for a couple weeks and be done with it. Slack.

I would say that this exclusive crap means I'll play less demos but I gotta admit - I don't download a lot of demos anyways, and when I do I'll go to the developer or publisher directly to look for it (and not even blink if they redirect me to some mirror.

These days, I'll just wait and check out a game at a friend's or the local shop or even buy it based on reviews/word of mouth/screenies - the old fashioned way.

phuck write of ewe type-o crytics
Psst: Dan = Fred. Pass it on.

So you wouldn't mind for example paying for the next Counterstrike patch to get it let's say two weeks earlier than the rest of the world which won't pay for it?

An initial period of exclusivity means little? Patches and demos are not the same but who will decide where to stop?

There is a big differance between marketing and product support. I have real hard time seeing paid for patches.

Off topic, but likewise. I actually think this may be worth a bit of money to Blue. Offer the current site as it is for free but offer a subscription site for $20/year with the following features:
- No ads, ever.
- Ignore button so you can put certain people on this list and never see their posts.
- The ability to edit posts

I know I'd signup in 30 seconds too.

Cheers,
Quboid

I don't see anything like that happening. It is in Activision's best interests to publicly release demos before the games come out. An initial period of exclusivity means little.

So you wouldn't mind for example paying for the next Counterstrike patch to get it let's say two weeks earlier than the rest of the world which won't pay for it?

An initial period of exclusivity means little? Patches and demos are not the same but who will decide where to stop?

[AIX]Hood wrote:

2 things of note.. first, notice how IGN/ve3d.com are strangely missing from that list?

Several more sites were asked but didn't/couldn't decide to participate.

I also noticed how bit torrent sites like gametab.com and filerush.com weren't asked to be added to the list even though they both get substantial download numbers these days. I guess since we don't offer pay services we're not worthy.

First of all, 3D Gamers supports BitTorrent and has no paid download service so that has nothing to do with it. It was a simple matter of not thinking of everyone we could ask about this. Sorry if that hurt your feelings, but you weren't the only one we forgot to contact.

-- Frans
3D Gamers admin, http://www.3dgamers.com/
This comment was edited on Aug 28, 20:26.

Are you people Americans? Do you believe in the American way? I think not.

Did Blue sell out when he started with the pop-up ads? Hell no! He has to survive. He's gotta eat.

Don't forget that every site you visit over your pathetically cheap Internet connection has to be paid by someone. (I pay $40 a month for my 600KB/sec Cablevision connection, and THAT'S CHEAP) Most things you deal with in life are all about business. Including, these days, demo downloads.

You'll get your stupid demo eventually. Will you have to wait (*gasp*) a few extra days for it? Maybe! But so what!? Get on with your lives and stop complaining about the natural evolution of business on the Internet.

Thank you.