It wasn't a complete waste. We know it will be a little longer before beta begins than everyone had speculated, but still within a month and a half. Edit: And we know they're still on for a 2011 release.
Edit: And we know they're still on for a 2011 release.
MM sounded very non-committal on that, and did say that the RMAH required totally new systems that haven't been tested at all. If anything, it smelled more like late 1q or early 2q 12 to me, as opposed to the mid 1q I've been expecting.
He also mentioned a big WoW content push as specifically being at the end of the year, which also decreases the chances of 2011. The stock dropped 20c while he was talking, btw.
Note sure if this has been mentioned already (sorry, don't have time to read through all the comments atm!), but it's not in the body of the article:
Mike confirmed that players would receive a certain number of weekly free trades on the RMAH.
The stock dropped 20c while he was talking, btw.
After hour trading is currently up 4% to roughly $12.30
I participated in the D2 beta and want to make an important comparison to D3. Some of this is also a soap box having been there, done that.
D2 beta was focused testing, per act, with level caps for internal testers. The entire game was not unveiled all at once, but in pieces. There were frequent down times due to hotfixing, resets (particularly when revealing new acts and classes) or game breaking issues with corruption in the player database. Again, it was very focused testing.
We've seen a tremendous amount of polish. Closed testing should begin SOON and not end of the quarter. This isn't internal knowledge, or even rocket science. It comes from playing these games and understanding the playing field as a developer and a customer.
Why we don't have a date yet? It's honestly a moving target. Until all teams are ready to collect the data they need, it will get pushed a day, two days, three days, until the right tools and limits are in place. They simply don't have a date yet. Frustrating as that might be, it's the reality.
Don't expect the entire game. That's not going to happen. You can't focus on and fix bugs when you are dealing with the entire game and a small pool of users expected to run through the content over and over without adding weeks/months to launching the final product. It's also a nightmare to prioritize and punt bugs.
If you've WoW'ed and ever begun on a new server, you need around a thousand players per faction to get enough item generation and AH activity to see how the micro-economy functions. That means some testers will make it to level cap and through the first act once, other players like me will do it as many times as allowed, multiple times per class. Beta doesn't mean everyone is hard core, some just got lucky, and some with beta keys won't even play.
Forget the terms internal or external. Focus on CLOSED and OPEN. Right now, this is a closed beta test. Invite only and will start out focused. OPEN is where they accept applicants and just modulate the flow of how many get to download and play with the game. You can't run a real economy unless you keep introducing new variables (items, players, time). The closed testers will be your higher level veterans, the open testers will be your nubs thrown into the mix.
I would say between 4-5000 invites will go out including those to BlizzCon attendees, opt ins from BNet accounts, press/VIP invites, and friends/family of employees invited in. That should net around 2,500-3,350 active users you can count on and at least 2,000 at prime time hours on at the same time to test and break everything thrown at the testers.
So when is beta starting? Why are they holding back a beta version of the game that isn't close to full version if its not full then there couldn't possibly anything wrong with handing out beta right now.
Of course they didn't announce the beta release date, you forget this is an investors event? For the investors to see a solid date and a range of time of 1 month and a half are absolutely the same thing.
Or were you expecting that they had made a promotional video just as Blizcon? Imagine a lot of investors in a tux watching the Blizcon video "And now with you... PVP Arenas!!!! Yaaaay!"
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Is there a way i can assure that i'm gonna get a beta key , or is it totally random ?
You cannot ensure that you get a beta key as Blizzard takes into consideration varying computer specs (not just top of the line specs), location, and also some randomness.
MM sounded very non-committal on that, and did say that the RMAH required totally new systems that haven't been tested at all. If anything, it smelled more like late 1q or early 2q 12 to me, as opposed to the mid 1q I've been expecting.
He also mentioned a big WoW content push as specifically being at the end of the year, which also decreases the chances of 2011. The stock dropped 20c while he was talking, btw.
Mike confirmed that players would receive a certain number of weekly free trades on the RMAH.
After hour trading is currently up 4% to roughly $12.30
D2 beta was focused testing, per act, with level caps for internal testers. The entire game was not unveiled all at once, but in pieces. There were frequent down times due to hotfixing, resets (particularly when revealing new acts and classes) or game breaking issues with corruption in the player database. Again, it was very focused testing.
We've seen a tremendous amount of polish. Closed testing should begin SOON and not end of the quarter. This isn't internal knowledge, or even rocket science. It comes from playing these games and understanding the playing field as a developer and a customer.
Why we don't have a date yet? It's honestly a moving target. Until all teams are ready to collect the data they need, it will get pushed a day, two days, three days, until the right tools and limits are in place. They simply don't have a date yet. Frustrating as that might be, it's the reality.
Don't expect the entire game. That's not going to happen. You can't focus on and fix bugs when you are dealing with the entire game and a small pool of users expected to run through the content over and over without adding weeks/months to launching the final product. It's also a nightmare to prioritize and punt bugs.
If you've WoW'ed and ever begun on a new server, you need around a thousand players per faction to get enough item generation and AH activity to see how the micro-economy functions. That means some testers will make it to level cap and through the first act once, other players like me will do it as many times as allowed, multiple times per class. Beta doesn't mean everyone is hard core, some just got lucky, and some with beta keys won't even play.
Forget the terms internal or external. Focus on CLOSED and OPEN. Right now, this is a closed beta test. Invite only and will start out focused. OPEN is where they accept applicants and just modulate the flow of how many get to download and play with the game. You can't run a real economy unless you keep introducing new variables (items, players, time). The closed testers will be your higher level veterans, the open testers will be your nubs thrown into the mix.
I would say between 4-5000 invites will go out including those to BlizzCon attendees, opt ins from BNet accounts, press/VIP invites, and friends/family of employees invited in. That should net around 2,500-3,350 active users you can count on and at least 2,000 at prime time hours on at the same time to test and break everything thrown at the testers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0cxdGHG-_E
Nope, almost that high when MM began, dropped twenty cents, kept on dropping back to 11.85, now settled around $12.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=atvi&ql=1
AH trading never means much, but it is fun to watch how it reacts to CC blather.
Monk > Wizard > Barbarian > Demon Hunter > Witch Doctor
Or were you expecting that they had made a promotional video just as Blizcon? Imagine a lot of investors in a tux watching the Blizcon video "And now with you... PVP Arenas!!!! Yaaaay!"
Find any Diablo news? Contact me or anyone else on the News team
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The website wholesale for many kinds of fashion shoes, like the nike,jordan,prada,****, also including the jeans,shirts,bags,hat and the decorations. All the products are free shipping, and the the price is competitive, and also can accept the paypal payment.,after the payment, can ship within short time.
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===== http://www.fullmalls.com =====
jordan shoes $32nike shox $32Christan Audigier bikini $23
Ed Hardy Bikini $23Smful short_t-shirt_woman $15ed hardy short_tank_woman $16Sandal $32christian loubo utin $80
Sunglass $15
COACH_Necklace $27handbag $33AF tank woman
$17puma slipper woman $30
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You cannot ensure that you get a beta key as Blizzard takes into consideration varying computer specs (not just top of the line specs), location, and also some randomness.