COH2 Closed Beta starts Apr.2

Just because the forums worked for you doesn't mean they worked for the majority of other people who were in the alpha, including myself. The balance feedback wasn't even the main goal of the alpha; it was to test their servers so they could be better prepared for the beta when the flood gates open.

I also fail to see how making a down payment on a game is not an investment. Sure you can still cancel the order before the game launches, but where do you think that money you put down is going? It isn't floating around in space that is for sure. The whole point of pre-orders is so early copies can be secured and to entice people with promotions such as the beta launching on April 2nd. Like it or not, Relic needs to give people a reason to pre-order the game which is why they are doing this.

Its just earlier profit, any company that depended on that income would be a bad one. If I performed X service and someone fronted me the money, I might do a little extra as a thank you. But if I needed that money in advance to even be able to provide myself with the appropriate equipment, I would need to find a new line of work.

Besides someone can just as easily argue that people that buy after release are supporting the game more, since they are going to be paying for more DLC.

Well we have waited this far so couple more weeks will not hurt that much even though it's a bit unfair but whatever...

Its just earlier profit, any company that depended on that income would be a bad one. If I performed X service and someone fronted me the money, I might do a little extra as a thank you. But if I needed that money in advance to even be able to provide myself with the appropriate equipment, I would need to find a new line of work.

Besides someone can just as easily argue that people that buy after release are supporting the game more, since they are going to be paying for more DLC.

Yeah but the only way to get that "free DLC" is with the 100 dollar collectors edition. I never said relic is so desperate that the game will not be funded without pre-order money either, but there is a reason that pre-ordering exists. It is designed to benefit the company selling the game, not the consumer.

That is why they need a shiny beta offer to get people to put money down and rake in early profit for the company. I doubt anyone could deny the urge to put down money and play the game early, which is again why they are doing this. It is a smart move and I'm sure come April 2nd we will see a massive spike in CoH2 pre-orders because of this.

Guess I might pre-order even though I have a Eurogamer key. Can someone tell me what a commander pass is? Seems like the only thing in the deluxe edition worth considering.

The reason I havn't pre-ordered is that I am old school hoping that there will be a boxed version of the game. Is it still purely only a game which can be purchased online?

If it is then I'll preorder via steam, even though I don't want to

I ordered a physical copy from Amazon. I don't know retailers in Australia unfortunately.

I think another reason why preorders are prioritised is because people supported a company in strife (THQ). Most of you who have preordered did so when the money was going to THQ.

I don't think SEGA cares who supported THQ.

Is there going to be an actual physical copy of CoH2? As in a disc and all in a box? I thought they said the game would only be offered via digital Steam download. That means any boxed version will only have a steam key right??? Someone correct me if I'm wrong as I would love to have an actual disc for those days the internet or servers happen to be down. I imagine there won't be as many issues using Steam but it's always nice to own something physical.

Also Basilone I hear you on the priorities for the Beta as I have a show key, Alpha access and pre-ordered (all to help Relic and ensure I would get early access to the game) but pre-orders do help the developer/publisher a lot more than the consumer. This is why Relic/Sega are giving them first crack even after THQ promised Show codes/Alpha participants access first which was a mistake I feel. Everyone needs to buy the game in the end and that is the goal of them putting out the game. They need a good game to sell and some people who pre-order won't do much in the way of beta testing and reporting but true hard core fans will buy the game pre-launch for the beta if they can afford to. In the end it doesn't matter how solid the game is and how strong the competitive scene is if the game just doesn't sell and pre-orders are an early indication of what sales may look like. If the game doesn't sell well there will be little in the lines of balancing and patching for the game. The competitive scene needs the casual gamers as much as the casual gamers need the competitive MP scene to draw in noobs like some of the great shout-casters did with me. At least they know they will have those guaranteed sales that pre-ordered if they release something final barring people wanting refunds but once the game is released or played refunds are hard to come by in gaming. It can be hard to get a refund from Steam even months before a release.

Check your PM's Basilone.

The game is Steamworks, so any DVD copy you buy will still need Steam for you to play it, but the game might have an offline mode like lots of other Steam games which would let you play offline.

I know that about steam titles but I thought it was said that THQ/Relic weren't offering a physical disc in a box. Just the Steamworks delivery system with Steam Key. They would need to crank out discs and create extra packaging that would cost money. I could be wrong but that's what I remember hearing. I know they for sure said no physical Collector's edition 100% but some of that could change with Sega.

Correct what I said: Lynx said this back in September. It's a quote off the CoH official forum. Lynx also said that you will be able to play SP modes offline but will need to access steam and set it to offline mode. Glad I'm not interested in playing offline much or that would suck b@#lls.

Quote | anton04 posted on Sep 23 2012 08:30 AM UTC

Is www.amazon.de offering Beta keys? I asked them but they don´t know at the moment.

As far as I know, the Standard Edition will be available digitally and physically. As for the physical edition...will there be a DVD in the box or just a CD-Key?







A disk comes with the standard box edition, and you will not get Beta access via Amazon.

In this thread: people promoting the idea that feedback and community input are more important to a video game company than you preordering their game and putting food on their kids' tables.

Videogames are incredibly expensive to produce, and need a lot of financial investment, and for a developer that had its publisher go down the shitter, I'd argue that they value their pre-orders even more.

If you're one of those investors, by way of pre-ordering, you deserve a small dividend. If that's a fancy camo for a tank, or earlier access to the beta than people who didn't preorder - then so be it.

Im more concerned about the final product, which will last forever, than if i can play the beta as a alpha tester 2 weeks or 1 month later.
Imagine opposing fronts factions gameplay being the subject here. You would be so eager to play this together with the preorder buyers? Im not saying it will be as dissappoiting, but signs go into that direction..

there's a myriad of reasons why pre-ordering is important for a company, and certainly better than a customer that waits for the finished product.

some of them have already been named (enticing people to spend their money now to get early beta access; the earlier you get the money, the "more" money you get, i.e., at a 1% interest rate, $50 now are worth 50 cent more than $50 a year from now), and lots of others remain unnamed (there are probably more reasons any 1 of us could think of).

btw: basilone, i think i heard you complain about foodstampers some time back... how can you complain about foodstampers and now demand you get something for free that others paid for months ago? especially when the pre-order guys weren't even in alpha?

tycho: you say people shouldnt be excluded just because they don't have enough money to throw around... so you also expect them to give away the full version of coh2 for free? so it's okay to NOT include pre-orders into alpha, but it's NOT okay to give FREE access to beta for alpha-testers/convention keys a little later?

the only arguments i heard that didn't sound like "crybaby wants beta NAAAOOOO" were twisters, and even those can be put aside with "you'll get into beta eventually".

just remember guys: when the convention keys were handed out, there was even talk about those keys getting beta access BEFORE pre-orders... if that would have been the case, i most definitely would have canceled my pre-order. how come a little fuck that has never heard of coh before and happened to stroll by the coh2 booth at eurogamer or whatever and grabbed a key gets access before people that PAID for early beta access?

In this thread: people promoting the idea that feedback and community input are more important to a video game company than you preordering their game and putting food on their kids' tables.

Videogames are incredibly expensive to produce, and need a lot of financial investment, and for a developer that had its publisher go down the shitter, I'd argue that they value their pre-orders even more.

If you're one of those investors, by way of pre-ordering, you deserve a small dividend. If that's a fancy camo for a tank, or earlier access to the beta than people who didn't preorder - then so be it.

As if a longer beta with more feedback wouldn't help the game sell more copies by making it a better game...

I am still hesitating on pre ordering, main concern is about the command pass, i need clarification about it (all future dlc'c included ?), what about if i pre order after the start of the beta (and after i get clarification about command pass of course), will i have access to it ?

As if a longer beta with more feedback wouldn't help the game sell more copies by making it a better game...

Assuming Relic will be keeping to beta running until the last couple of weeks before launch, then we are looking at over two months of beta testing. That is quite a lot of time for people to provide feedback and get a lot of issues ironed out before launch.

Relic also mentioned their roadmap which will allow the community to help improve the game post launch by letting them know the features we want to see implemented, such as spectator support. If you look at the game Planetside 2, they have done the exact same thing and it has improved the game substantially over the course of a few months.

In this thread: people promoting the idea that feedback and community input are more important to a video game company than you preordering their game and putting food on their kids' tables.

If they were so desperate that they were depending on preorders to put food on the tables, they would've gone under long ago. They just want to get paid as soon as they can like everyone else does, though not necessarily requiring it. If right from the beginning the plan was to give preorders an earlier entry, ok. The problem is that A) they said eurogamer keys + alpha would be grandfathered in the beta when it began, and B) the beta has been delayed so long now, this 3 week wait for everyone else is almost cutting their test time in half. We all want the highest quality end product,don't limit the testing pool like this when the game is only 2.5 months away. Would you rather feel special because you got some exclusivity, at the expense of the final product not getting the best possible testing?

In other news, I've secured another way in to the April 2 beta anyways

B) the beta has been delayed so long now, this 3 week wait for everyone else is almost cutting their test time in half. We all want the highest quality end product,don't limit the testing pool like this when the game is only 2.5 months away. Would you rather feel special because you got some exclusivity, at the expense of the final product not getting the best possible testing?

There is only one issue with the "everyone else" part. The Alpha and Eurogamer key holders represent a very small portion of people who will be testing the game. Eurogamer keys I'm guessing there were only a few hundred given out, and mostly to the press who were attending the event. The amount of people in the alpha test was also very small according to relic.

Having a beta that anyone can get into by pre-ordering is not an exclusive thing at all. It allows far more people to get in right away because all they have to do it pay for the game they were probably going to buy anyway. Limiting the initial testing to a small group of people who attended exclusive events is what would limit the testing pool.