So the last beta weekend has ended. Early access in two weeks..the game is great, but massively bugged.

I think it would really be cool if WE got some feedback..updates..anything..directly from the devs..everyone is worried the game isnt ready for launch..would just be nice to hear some reassuring words..

I got an email from CS about a few bug reports last night. Made me feel good that they were read within an hour of the beta ending!

But yeah, hearing the devs say, "Quests will be working by launch, take it to the bank." would be reassuring.

I was able to communicate with members of the GW2 team during beta. Definitely felt really good being able to communicate directly like that. I haven't experienced anything like that, my only interaction being the surveys they send out.

This last beta was a stress test for how the servers handle really heavy loads. And imo i think we have nothing to worry about. The devs were TRYING to push the game to its limits so they can figure out what needs tweaking and outside of a few annoying things i was frankly impressed at how well the engine held up.

Launches when dealing with MMOs are rough as a rule; initial releases, expansions, patches, etc. TESO is looking pretty good imo. I say let the devs do their thing, no need for a hourly report when we have a good idea of what is going on.

They communicate alright i see their posts everywhere

Could always do with more developer posts and checking in.

I think the time spent letting people know they're being heard and in some cases interacting with them is really worth the effort.

Riot Games really opened my eyes to just how well this can be done, and how it can illicit more constructive criticism from the players.

I agree to a point. But launch is 2 weeks away and they and said what is going on. What more is there to say really? I mean its put up time. The devs have said its gonna arrive on time and be a flawless launch among other things. If 4/4 hits and they fail to deliver, or have a sudden problem seemingly out of the blue, then i think it will be time to get nervous.

I dunno, my last MMO dealings were with a company that seemed to take pride in not speaking to the playerbase for large swaths of time, so i am finding the flow of info Zeni/Beth is releasing to be downright refreshing

If a Dev came onto the forums with their Dev ID, they will be swarmed over so bad that there would be no way for them to respond.

You say they dont listen, I say they do. They just dont reply to forum post very much. Ask yourself how they respond. Here is couple ways that I know of

1. First person view

2. Skip Coldhabour with alt. characters.

i see the argument when discussing the bugs"this was a stress test" used a lot

if they really needed one more stress test, 2 weeks before launch, it is really bad planning on their end

and a bad business decision as well

2 weeks before launch should have had a "look how great our game is" beta, not a bugged down stress test

At two weeks out, it's sorta both, actually. Huge beta shortly before launch to let people get a taste of what's there. But only a taste, not a finished product. And a stress test to catch any last minute issues before they affect the live version.

I agree that a lot of it is wait and see at this point. No real room for too much more feedback, though perhaps a short spiel about what kinds of final changes are being made would be very reassuring (I think most people would feel happier with this little kindness).

I wouldn't consider making changes to the game to be interacting with fans, although it's par and parcel of that interaction.

I didn't know they were adding 1st-person or making changes to the start of the game until after they'd already made the changes.

Perhaps if we had more interaction at the precipice we would also have simple changes such as left-handedness and more intuitive starting area quests.

Or.. perhaps not? We never had a poll, and we never really had a say.

Not to beat anyone's dead horse, but it is actually as much our game as theirs - and a great game would be mutually beneficial.

no, its not disheartening!

i want to play eso. no need for anything but open up the game and play.

[quote name="Putok" post="23495731"

But yeah, hearing the devs say, "Quests will be working by launch, take it to the bank." would be reassuring.[/quote]

Isn't that pretty much exactly what that The Road Ahead post from Matt Firor says?

I just wonder how many quests are truly bugged and if it's just one of the side-effects of the fact that they are stressing the servers, which should be alleviated for launch. I only had a handful that wouldn't work, but I did get some to work by just logging out of the game and back in. If the quest was truly bugged, logging in and out shouldn't make a difference, should it?

Yes...because Anet is the BEST at listening to the fans instead of just s select group...warriors being the best class anyone?

My understanding is that the quests were bugged because the phasing failed, and since these are all stress tests that would be to be expected. Presumably, they will have enough data from all of the betas to fix the bug before launch. Either way, BEGIN PANICKING!!!

Really some of these rationalizations to panic are kinda silly, no offense meant, but they are.

I suppose its 'bad planning' to hold dress rehersals for things like weddings or plays? Or have practice before a game? Or ?

Whatever, panicking is comforting for some, so have at it.

@ the bold, not until 4/4 and a finalized product is delivered.

Exactly.

http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2014/03/14/eso-road-ahead

It was like 3 days ago. What could have changed so much that it needed an update so soon?

I think you misunderstand what I was saying. The point isn't that they were in contact but ignoring my suggestions, but that they were communicating with me. I'm glad you decided to ignore that point to press meaningless information.

The only communication I've seen from ZoS while playing the stress tests has been the automated system messages. Not very personal.

Considering the fact that NDA was lifted 1.5 months before launch and there was barely any communication from devs either now and before that time, I just hope that attitude does not carry on post launch. Small things like the crafting video they released post NDA lift was great to watch and in all honestly if they released more videos like that over a longer period of time , it would have been great for the game. The blatant advertising to buy the imperial edition even on the beta launcher as a pop up and multiple AMAs devoted to just imperial edition features is worrisome.

nope its not bad planning to have dress rehearsals etc, if you do them when you have enough time to make changes

doing the wedding dress rehearsal the day before, when you know the shop doing the dresses is closed, would be bad planning, since you would have no time to fix the dresses

doing a stress test 2 weeks before launch, and this being the last test with enough people to actually make these bug appear, is indeed bad planning

these bugs do not appear much if at all on the PTS, because they do not have enough people playing there, so even if they find a "fix" between now and release, they wont be able to test it at all, is that not bad planning?

we where told after a beta a while back, not to worry because the PTS was running a much later build where these bugs had been fixed, that build is the one we just played this weekend, and lo and behold the bugs are still there

i am not panicking

i havent cancelled my preorder

even if the bugs are still there at release, ill play

but i will say it is bad planning on their behalf and also a bad business decision, if they really have a build where the bugs are fixed, which i dont believe they do,

atleast they dont know if they do, since they havent been tested with enough people to cause the bugs to appear

It can't get this far without recognizing and fulfilling some pretty specific market (our) needs.

If I was a dev, I wouldn't post on the forum.