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TW have delivered the worst launch in MMORPG History.
Now before you attack me - as i'm sure some of you will.
Understand that i have been presented for the following launches of MMOs.
Everquest - Lineage 2 - Star Wars Galaxies - World of Warcraft - Tabula Rasa - FF11 - FF14 - FF14ARR - Aion - Rappelz - Star Trek Online - Star Wars Old Republic - The Secret World - All Points Bulletin - Dragon Nest - TERA - Warframe -Firefall -Perfect World - Forsaken World -
* I've played more; just those are launches i was present for - so i can safely say i've experienced a few MMO launches.
Now; it is true that pretty much every MMO experiences launch problems - However; what is also true is they are all mostly predictable, and AVOIDABLE - Yet they rarely are avoided - but they are contained; and resolved in timely manners.
Today's markets day 7 of my Archeage disaster of an experience - i shall outline it day by day.
Purchased my 150 dollar founder pack in April the day they went on sale due to what i was told would be a "limited supply, highly exclusive". -- As of the morning of head-start day 1; they were still on sale - First big lie.
Day 1 - Headstart 1 - I log into the game to my first que - Expected; 2 hour wait - i'm in the game - Woohoo; i'm cheesing a nice smile - Then i notice no founder items i paid for - oh well no biggie; get into the game 20 minutes; another crash --- Okay okay; this happens; i'll just continue playing the next day.
Day 2 - Greeted by the infinite cinematic bug where it just loops the cinematic after telling you; it can't authenticate your credentials. - That's fine went to the gym - came back 3 hours later; problem still exists - 2 hours later i can finally log in; but now experience constant D/Cs when i have no networking issues putting me right back into the 1H que.
Day 3 - First day i actually got any real play time; at this point headstart is about over; i'm kinda annoyed by the whole experience - but i'm trying to deal with it - I make it to level 20 start looking for some land -- Oh look; there is none - i start checking the forums; people were reporting -hours- after launch that all available land was pretty much claimed by elistist guilds who exploited game mechanics to monoplize the land -- At this point' i'm kinda pissed - This was the whole point to being in the head start - to get a chance at prime real-estate. Now NOTHING is left; and my headstart is pretty much over - still no founder items - so i decided to voice my opinion on it -- I was rather well worded; no vulgarity; nor did i attack anyone directly over it -- i simply stated it was "not what i had expected from an MMO i had long looked forward too" -- The page got a few hundred replies - i did not reply to anyone; only my OPost remained - i was banned for 2 days for "attacking TW staff" -- A false charge; but it's whatever.
Day 4 - Last day of headstart - The ques were generally shorter on this day 10-15 minutes; however the game would not launch from the selection screen - the game launched; but the screen was blacked out - after 2-3 restarts of the game it would work; which requires 2-3 times waiting in the que to play. But i could sorta play - Til of course the crashes; and D/Cs started. Still no founder items - TW Community Manager makes claims about all the problems being fix'ed - yet forum is full of thousands of reports that it is NOT fixed - oh; and of course the self-defeating claim of a DDOS attacks.
- I say it's false because i work IT for a company of 600 employees -- our infrastructure in our 2 local data rooms combined with our data-center colocation would be nearlly untouchable to any script kiddy running a multiple pronged LOIC - type DDOS attack -- Due to modern backend structuring like VLAN SUBNETTING - DNS Bypass; TCP Pulse drops; it's easy to throttle incoming data bursts - and we are a mom; and pop shop - TW is running infra that must hold tens of thousands of users - So either A.) Its a giant lie to cover their failings - B.) They have infrastructure; and incompentant Net Admins working their most vital aspect of play - Either way; they lose.
Day 5 - "Launch Day" - Game patches to recent build - totally broke. Broke. - Won't even start -- "Failed to Find Game Data" -- Check their forums; and again their "Community Manager" (who is reminding me of Badgdad Bob) - Claims the fault is because you are running the game off a drive that is not the native OS drive - again as an IT person; i face palm -- The first person under him replies that he is lying - the game's patcher is curropting it's own build - and replacing the bin32 file fixes the issue - Sure enough; he provides a link to download the file; and bam it works -- Some random guy does the job for TW; and TWs community point of contact is caught as a fat lier. -- Oh; and i log into 3 hours ques; and still no founder items.
Day 6 - Still no founder items; and same issues as above; none are fixed - nothing is different - I go to the forums again; since i'm no longer banned - and state again i'm incredibly displeased - and want some form of reparation in 5 minutes i was permanantly banned from the forums of what was stated as "Ban Evasion" - Huh? I go to make out an support ticket and disput the ban - and i get "Admin has disabled this feature for your account" -- I can't even e-mail them?
Day 7 - I'm currently waiting in what will easly be the longest que of the week - I'm in position 3,400 as a patron with wait time at >1hr - and i typed this paragraph; i do not expect to see my found items.
No matter how bad the launch problems -- I never seen a company out right lie; and mislead their customers -- i never seen a company not only continue to push their product even when they can not currently deal with the current active load -- but punish their founders by providing a same price but better reward "starter" pack with superior items that are actually delivered when founder items are not -- Every day the old problems persist; new problems arise - and they give little communication outside of lies -- when you voice your displease you are suppressed; and banned.
Archage is the best MMO to have hit the industry in atleast 5 years --- TW has provided the worst launch of the best MMO - in the history of MMOs.
I can only hope they are hit where it counts -- in the wallet, over this.
Comments
They just underestimated the amount of players . Trion already said today that they have new servers coming soon and will increase the number of people on each server .
The game itself is the best I have seen since vanilla WoW once its all sorted they will get a subscription from me . They will reimburse players in some way who have patron status or who are founders .
Not the best launch I admit still hardly the worst in mmorpg history that is going a bit far . I've seen a lot worse and I have seen a lot better . I remember ques like this in WoW at the start .
I kind of expect this sort of thing from a new game and thankfully server ques don't make it a bad game . It runs smoothly and is quite polished .
I'm patient it''ll be all sorted out .
I self identify as a monkey.
anarchy online
queue times suck but that's to be expected for the first few weeks before everyone moves on to the next game.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
The worst launch in MMO history is still AO and while this was bad it was nowhere near AO or Vanguard for that matter.
AA was about the same level of AoC which is bad, particularly since the game been up and running for 2 years in Korea so I wouldn't applaud Trion or anything but it seems like there always is a thread when a new game launches claiming it to be the worst launch ever.
I do understanding launching a completely new game have it's problems and the DDOS attacks didn't help here either but a westernized game should still be a lot easier to launch. Lineage, AION and TERA all had far better launches than this.
But while that is annoying it is far more important what happens the next 3 months after launch than the launch itself. Here Trion did a great job with Rift, let's hope they can do the same with AA.
The Brave Do Not Fear The Grave
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I got banned too, for posting this image in some QQ threads. And I didn't even speak a word or attack any TW staff.
I didnt follow the launch that much but really? They claimed that is a problem? Holy cow! I mean...really...how can this be a problem or in other not as polite words: how the *peep* did they program the stuff that it can't detect the OS drive? It is one of the basics we learned in IT to always detect and safe where the program is run from and where the OS is. It is 1rst maybe in some bad examples 2nd semester stuff. If we coded our semester project this way we had failed the course! How can any company that makes money claim that this is a problem?
Your facepalm isn't by far enough to show the fail in that claim. However repeatingly hitting your head against a wall might do the trick because then you wont be able to think straight.
QFT
Anyone that experienced the launch of Anarchy Online will tell you, that was the worst launch ever, with no exceptions. It was damn near unplayable.
Nothing has ever come close to matching the disaster that was the AO launch.
I agree completely. This is the last MMO I'm going to waste money on prepaid packages and head start gameplay. Although, every MMO launch has its challenges, this one is the worst I've seen.
while agree off to a bad start its been improving daily and i know im home all day every dayand am checking....
it seems that in today for example i could get on wiht no queues at a certain time of day and the games been a lot more stable too.
WHILE they might actually go with one more server per each EU and NA , i'd say hunker down for a bit , i had for exmaple known botters shadowing me for half my day....
also i discovered two cheaters using scripts to stay online
one doing circles in away mode....
( THEY can detect that now and after 45 minutes of it you get banned ..that was the real aim vs what people think on a disciussion board omg omg they ban me for being away no......they ban you for using a script that has a behaviour they can detect and they even give you 45 minutes before they ban )
this is my main like they are actually active at getting these...TESO failed utterly to point every gave up...me too.
i gained 11 levels nearing 31st level and even scripped a whole area as i now enter pvp area...( helped a guild member out we had a lot a fun )
this is the shame about this game unlike TESO which everyone was yacking about silently many of us were waiting for this...
i will go patron on this cause i see them doing effort....
OH and one thing i figured out is compared to launch and hte day after the new servers ...the queue's for f2p are all merged ergo no matter what server you choose it was same number ( that changed today and wella lots able)
also the disconnect and reconnect feature i can verify now works....
they have fixed several areas that were a lil buggy or had issues form beta ....
and tomorrow i think ill go back to the area i scipped and clean out its missions....by then i should be up round 34-35th level or 36th a nice number to enter the pvp zone with some guild mates.
and im real curious about some of the founders having so much problems ....where are you from if you dont mind me asking...
na it just measn 2 things either the people that over bought 10 farms wont be able to pay taxes and remit land back into system or you can buy a house off them at stupid pricing...
i helped a founder get all the ores etc i could so we can at least get a guild place to farm and such....
also i try and help all my fellow guild mates cause were supposed ot as we get high level go pirate and then reform to make a giant pirate guild
thats where the fun begins
Anarchy online- 2 FPS on a machine that doubled the recommended stats for a month
Vanguard- Le Chunk, game released about a year too soon and with half the promised features
Dark & light- I don't even want to speak of this. people should have gone to jail over it.
Mortal- nekkid people in the character creator... all downhill from there.
my personal 4 worst.
(dis) honorable mention- the first attempt at ff14 (the relaunch however was ok to good, despite Queues, because they actually fixed the darn game)
AA may be your personal worst, because you have invested 150 in it (i did the 50 myself) but it's not as bad as any of the above 4. at least people are playing AA which is more than i can say about the first 4 days of Anarchy online. And there is an actual game to play which is more than can be said for dark & light or the original ff14.
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
Dwight D Eisenhower
My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
I really must be missing something about this game. I waited about 2 1/2 hrs just to see what it was like. Understanding I stopped at around level 10 the game kinda gave me a been there done that feeling. From what I do understand things really don't change until around level 30 though. I've played a lot of online games and never saw one with 3000 waiting to play before, but I don't think Trion Wolrds thought that was going to happen. Today I am sure if they added two servers or not but I was able to log right away into one of them.
Personally I hope the game does well, maybe not my cup of tea or glass of root beer but I am think it's is a lot of peoples. I'll stick to Rift for now
Just my 2 cents 
This launch is slightly below average in my history of MMOs. I could list off tons of MMOs trying to appear to be the authority on this matter but whats the point. I'll just get down to business. Everquest launch was not pretty, I'm really curious how you can say AA is in any way worse. I'd even say my World of Warcraft experience on Warsong server at launch was way worse. You would sit for an hour in the queue just to get online and get disconnected in 5 minutes when the server would spaz out. The only reason the queue wasn't longer was because hundreds of people would be disconnected every few minutes. That server (and the whole game really) suffered such servere overpopulation issues that I just had to walk away from it for half a year and hoped the problem would be fixed. As for games you didn't list...AO and Vanguard were both great games eventually, but their launches were both much worse than this. Shadowbane was so bad during the beta in the week leading up to launch that I didn't even play it. So, I assume that one didn't go well either. I heard Tabula Rasa was a rough launch, but I didn't play it so I'll leave it at that.
Anyone saying this launch is the "worst" ever is just showing off their ignorance on mmo launches. Its worse than most, but it is far closer to "average" than "worst".
Not true
I played Horizons at launch and it was the worst launch in mmo history. Horizons was a game launched by Atari in 2005,...I think, maybe it was 2006..i forget exactly.
Its actually still live..and it's a great game now, cept it has almost nobody playing it.
I played it for 3 years.
Game has multi classing, a dozen professions in adventure, dozen in craft, open world housing...and a playable dragon race. Yes, you can be a dragon. You even start out as a youth dragon, quest up to an adult and can fly and build your own lair.
Anyways....launch was horrible with huge memory leaks and nobody could fix it for over a year. At times I would have to relog every 30 min because my fps would be about 5 fps and unplayable.
But the game was so much fun otherwise and had so much potential...I played, lead a big guild and had lots of fun.
Vanguard had a worse launch too...pretty rough with lots of memory leaks and server disconncects...for months after launch.
Arche Age is the closest game to Horizons that I've seen since.
It's launch, though a bit awkward...is FAR..from the worst. WoW had more trouble on it's launch than AA...ALOT more trouble.
fyi...I've played
Horizons, Eq2, WoW, AoC, Vanguard, Gw1 and 2, DDO, Tera Rising...and numerous other smaller titles I forget at the moment
I remember Anarchy Online, that was real nasty!
However it is 2014 and not 2001..
So to compare AA to games of the past over a decade ago, we should have the technology now for less problems.
On the other hand.
Games like Destiny can have a better launch that AA (I understand it's not truly a fair comparison), but seriously. Can PC games ever get it right?
We have had some mmorpg's with good launches, but you can count possibly all of them on 1 hand.