BioWare Cancels EU The Old Republic Beta-Test Weekend

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
12,070
0
0
BioWare Cancels EU The Old Republic Beta-Test Weekend



NOOOOOOOOOOOO! The developers want to prep the next build of the anticipated MMO before running another weekend-long test.

The dark inset eyes stare at you. "You want this, don't you?" the Emperor says as he sees you staring intently at ... the beta invite email for The Old Republic. Gamers and Star Wars fans have been clamoring to play the first MMO made by RPG-experts BioWare ever since it was announced all the way back in 2008. Even those of you who were lucky to be invited into the beta test are now forced to wait a little longer because BioWare has decided to forego testing this weekend. The team has used brief testing periods in the past to test load on the servers before taking the game down on Monday, but BioWare's community managers announced that there will be no such test this weekend which would have invited players from the EU for the first time. Beta-testing for all players already in the test is also disabled this weekend [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8927958#edit8927958].

At least the reason is a good one. A brand new build of the game is rolling out very soon and it would be quite unfair to invite players to download 27 gigs worth of The Old Republic files before asking to do so again in a week's time. Players "will also have their characters erased and have to start afresh," said BioWare's EU community manager Chris Collins. "This is a relatively large amount to download in such a short space of time and not an experience we want new testers to be exposed to."

The other reason is that this new build will include localized versions for French and German players. "Those of you that speak French and German will have the chance to play the game in those languages, for the first time ever. We're extremely excited to be able to offer this to our players and as such, we're keen to get a lot of feedback from European testers in particular."

The team hopes to get internal testing complete before opening the game to a bigger subset of EU beta-testers. Collins is not sure when exactly testing will resume, but he is quite aware that people are anxious to play The Old Republic.

"I can feel the hate flowing through you!"

Source: BioWare [http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?p=8885761#edit8885761]

Permalink
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
9,612
0
0
Oh no. What a shame. I am so very disappointed.
Oh wait. WHOOPS.
 

redisforever

New member
Oct 5, 2009
2,158
0
0
Before the rage, think. I am on their side. My internet wouldn't be able to handle downloading 27 gigs. Also, better version.

I do think they should have kept it up during the intervening time.
 

Hondor64

New member
Dec 10, 2009
72
0
0
I was in the beta last weekend. Sorry to hear that others are going to have to wait a while to get to test the game.
 

Ranooth

BEHIND YOU!!
Mar 26, 2008
1,778
0
0
As a previous tester I can confirm that it is one hell of a download, good move by Bioware but some people won't see it like that sadly.
 

JediMB

New member
Oct 25, 2008
3,094
0
0
I just hope I'll get invited to one of the test thingies.

But it's not like I'm tearing my hair out in anticipation. I can patiently wait for the pre-order early access.

EDIT: As for the 27 GB download... well, I reckon it won't be a problem for me as long as it's through Origin. EA's content delivery servers are fantastic.
 

manythings

New member
Nov 7, 2009
3,297
0
0
JediMB said:
I just hope I'll get invited to one of the test thingies.

But it's not like I'm tearing my hair out in anticipation. I can patiently wait for the pre-order early access.

EDIT: As for the 27 GB download... well, I reckon it won't be a problem for me as long as it's through Origin. EA's content delivery servers are fantastic.
Careful. You aren't having a hateful opinion about EA so someone is already trying to track you down and scream at you since you clearly work for "The Man".

OT: Testing is for finding problems. Problems were found and the new build enhanced. I'm sure there are people double-speaking complaints about how working realy hard at their bug fixing is actually proof that this is really a cheap, knock-off WoW clone as opposed to an actual game.
 

Shihoudani

New member
Oct 3, 2009
121
0
0
I actually think this was a wise decision for Bioware. Could you imagine the anger some people would have after downloading 27 gigs, only to find out a week later they had to download another 27 gigs or worse?

Smart move, even if it isn't widely accepted.
 

Sixcess

New member
Feb 27, 2010
2,719
0
0
27?!

I don't think even WoW comes close to that... albeit I'm two expansions behind, but seriously, that's huge. Wonder how much of it is the voice work.
 

Citizen Sane

New member
Jul 24, 2011
17
0
0
Im looking forwards to playing the game during early access so i can wait. Want the game to be the best it can when it launchs and i want it fresh :p
 

erztez

New member
Oct 16, 2009
252
0
0
Well damn...
27 gigs is barely two hours, come on EA, DO IT!
OTOH, beta is awesome, gives me my one and only reason to play republic:p
 

Althus

New member
Sep 24, 2010
52
0
0
The could maybe use a patch to upgrade the beta to the new build or is this just a crazy idea?
So people didn't had to download all the 27 gigs.
 

Rad Party God

Party like it's 2010!
Feb 23, 2010
3,560
0
0
Ouch, and I thought that Age of Conan was big.

Downloading 27 gigs again seems a little extreme to me, but whatever, that's what beta testers signed in for, to test an unfinished game without getting payed.
 

The Lugz

New member
Apr 23, 2011
1,371
0
0
Althus said:
The could maybe use a patch to upgrade the beta to the new build or is this just a crazy idea?
So people didn't had to download all the 27 gigs.
you want them to spend time creating an upgrade patcher for beta versions of the game?
you crazy you XD

now if they'd started a streaming service from the beginning, it might have been ok to just download 2-3 gigs at a time ( blizzard did this a few times with friends and family beta, but it was their own game engine too so they probably have more flexibility )
 

TilMorrow

Diabolical Party Member
Jul 7, 2010
3,246
0
0
Meh, I still want to know if you need origin to play the game when it releases.
 

PingoBlack

Searching for common sense ...
Aug 6, 2011
322
0
0
Nile McMorrow said:
Meh, I still want to know if you need origin to play the game when it releases.
It's not about Origin.
What you want to know is how the SW:ToR EULA is written!

Even if they don't use Origin (They most likely wont, as MMOs typically use in game distribution system.) the EULA can still contain exactly same "lemme spy on you" provisions.