Welcome
to the 1,273rd
edition
of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily
MMOG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

Pay-for-beta has become the rule rather than the exception,
but when does "selling" access to beta move beyond standard industry
practice and into the dimly lit corners of shady business? Recently, an
admin for a large Final Fantasy XIV fansite was
called out for allegedly attempting to sell beta access (with "no
guarantee") for $100. We talk about beta key ethics (or the lack
thereof) in today's Loading... Bidding for Beta.

width="100%">

The Pulse

You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result is the Ten Ton Pulse ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/thepulse/" target="_blank">What
is The Pulse?).

Here
are today's top 5 Pulse results:

1. World
   of Warcraft
2. EverQuest
   II
   (UP
   1)
3. Dungeons
   and
   Dragons Online (UP 1)
4. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/43">EVE
   Online (UP 4)
5. Star
   Trek
   Online (down 1)
   

Biggest
movers in the last seven days:

1. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/183">Guild
   Wars 2 (UP 20 to #6)
2. The Agency (UP 14 to #19)
   
3. Vanguard:
   Saga of Heroes (Down 10 to #13)
   

Recent Releases

• 12/1
  - LotRO:
  Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
• 12/1
  - EVE
  Online: Dominion (expansion)
• 12/15
  - EverQuest:
  Underfoot (expansion) 
• 1/26
  - href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2389">Mass
  Effect 2
  (release date)
• 2/1
  - Global
  Agenda (release date)
• style="font-weight: bold;">2/1
  - Mortal
  Online (release date)
• 2/2 size="-1">
  - Star
  Trek Online (release date)
• 2/10
  - Stargate
  Resistance (release date)
• 2/16
  - href="http://everquest2.station.sony.com/expansions/sentinelsfate/index.vm">EverQuest
  2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)
  
  
  

Upcoming
Releases

• March
  2010
  - APB
• style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2010
  - Mytheon
• TBA
  2010
  - Final
  Fantasy XIV
  
  
• style="font-weight: bold;">Spring 2011
  - Star Wars:
  The Old
  Republic
  
  

Loading... Daily

Let's say that, despite your best intentions, you're completely hyped
about a game in development. You haunt official and fansite forums,
looking for snippets of information and joining other hyped fans in
speculation and debate. And, like any loyal fan, you're scanning the
horizon for any signs of beta and hoping beyond hope that
a closed beta invite will somehow, miraculously, come your
way.



What would you give to get one of those coveted beta invites? Would you
subscribe to FilePlanet? Would you place a preorder, demonstrating your
willingness to part with your cash in hopes that the game will live up
to your expectations? Would you support a network like Ten Ton Hammer
through a premium
membership that offers you a first chance at beta
opportunities?



Would you cough up $100 or more to a fansite admin who offered to get
you in for a "donation?"



Developers and gaming communities have discovered many ways to
capitalize on the high demand for beta access. And while gamers may not
be big fans of the recent trend toward pay-for-beta, the options I
listed above have become standard fare...with one glaring exception.
Last week, Zyuu, admin and founder of the Final
Fantasy XIV fansite, FFXIVCore.com,
allegedly approached several community members offering them beta keys,
as soon as those keys became available, in exchange for money. And not
just a little money but, as a screen capture in a href="http://www.ffxivvault.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1118&start=0">post
at FFXIV Vault seems to show, $100 hard-earned American
dollars. The offer of a key for $100 came with a warning that there was
no ETA on when keys would be available, and an admonishment that the
admin didn't want anyone asking him "when do you get keys?" (For the
full scoop, check out our href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81048">news post.)



Now, maybe it's just me, but I would find $100 ridiculously difficult
to part with in the mere hope of scoring some beta key with no
guarantees. Of course, I'm also aware of many factors that affect the
availability of beta keys. Closed beta access is a hot commodity,
particularly when it comes to AAA MMOGs. While it's true that back in
the day one's odds of getting into closed beta were fairly good, that's
no longer the case. More often than not, keys are offered mere weeks
before a game's launch, and even then they're available only
through gaming community memberships or pre-orders. If a game
does have a true open beta, where anyone can download the client and
play, it's a virtual certainty that your freebie access will be limited
to days, not weeks.



But it's not just the uncertainty involved in throwing money (and lots
of it) at an unknown that bothers me; I consider what Zyuu attempted
flat out unethical. Or, to quote href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49637#post419770">AngryBeaver,
one of our community members, "Lamer than a $10 mule." For starters,
Zyuu has href="http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?game=268&mid=1266318870137044086&page=1&howmany=50#m1266321901164098017">admitted
that he has "no guaranteed keys from Curse/Square Enix," leaving me
wondering where the money from his community members would have gone in
the event they never received keys. In essence, Zyuu was selling the
sizzle, not the steak. In sales and marketing, selling the sizzle is
considered standard practice, but it's only acceptable when you can
actually serve up the steak once the buyer is sold.



But then, is selling a beta key, with no other promise of
services or membership, ever okay? Selling beta keys on eBay has always
been considered shady, and developers are known to at least attempt to
shut down those who try to make a fast buck off of their virtual goods.
I'm honestly not seeing much of a difference between Zyuu's actions and
those of the beta eBayers, except that Zyuu's potential transactions
were kept on the down-low. At least the eBayers had the cajones
to take their greed public.



I'm not directly opposed to pay-for-beta--I do think it's the future
(if not the present) where online games are concerned. Ten Ton Hammer
does its best to bring beta keys to premium members by promising them
first access when and if keys are available. And, while we do always
work to secure keys (and believe me, we work hard), and we've offered
some great giveaways (including what were probably the first
publicly available keys for href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/926">Global
Agenda), we make no promises other than this: if we
have keys, and the developer does not insist on us making them
available to one and all, our premium members will get them first. We
realize that we don't control the ebb and flow of beta keys--the devs
do.



Before I toss this Loading... into the hopper and open it for
discussion, I feel it necessary to add one thing: Zyuu seems to have
acted alone. Although FFXIVCore is a member of the Curse network,
Zyuu's actions shouldn't reflect badly on that network as a whole. I
expect Curse will prepare some sort of official statement in that
regard as this story continues to spread. Meanwhile, consider Zyuu one
bad apple...and quite possibly rotten to the "Core."



At what point does "selling" access to beta become unethical? Join us
in the Loading... forum to share your thoughts.

---

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of
the Day



From our href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News & Events Forum



Allods
Enters Open Beta



Allods
Online has officially moved into its href="http://allods.gpotato.com/news/2010/02/16/open-beta-has-officially-begun/"
target="_blank">open beta testing phase. Despite
Ten Ton Hammer's href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/2394">plentiful
coverage of the game, it seems our regular members haven't
found their way to Allods just yet, at least not if
forum participation is any indication. While I onily checked out Allods
for a very brief time (just a few levels), I found it a polished game,
even in the fairly early beta version I tested. I think a few of you
might be pleasantly surprised by its quality.



If you have given Allods Online a try, or you simply want to ask a few
questions, href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=49647">hit
the forums to chat.



==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread



"Servers were pretty heavily populated all day today (once
they were running!), so I used the day to get all my toons out of the
intro and up to level 5."



- Medawky

==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!

---

New and Exclusive Content
Today at Ten Ton Hammer

5 new Ten Ton Hammer
features today! 77 in February! 192
in 2010!

REVIEWS



Stargate Resistance PC Review

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81065



Fans
of the Stargate TV shows have been waiting a long time for the release
of a Stargate-based game to enjoy. Last week, they finally got their
wish as FireSky launched Stargate Resistance, a team-based third-person
shooter set in the Stargate universe. But will the shooter be
everything that fans of the franchise have hoped for? Join Martuk as he
steps through the Stargate to see what awaits players on the other side.



INTERVIEWS



Allods Online Archetype Interview Series Part 2 - The Healer

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81085



Ten
Ton Hammer continues its interview series with gPotato all stars --GM
Gregory Carter and Community Manager Katelyn Olmstead. Last week we
opened the series with a look at the Warrior classes and we continue
this week with a look at the Healer archetype. Not your typical dress
wearing heal-bots, the Allods Healer is a powerhouse wrapped up in a
shiny platemail package. Join us for this informative look at realm of
the Heretic, Inquisitor, Cleric and Priests.



FEATURES & GUIDES



AdventureQuest Worlds: Valentine Cheer and the Chinese New Year

http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81093



Valentine's
Day has come and gone, but the celebration continues in AdventureQuest
Worlds as Big Daddy, the CEO of Big Daddy Chocolates & Cards
LLC,
is still spreading the love with seasonal items and special quests.
AdventureQuest Worlds is also celebrating the Chinese New Year with a
new zone, complete with Vampires and Lycans. You can find out all about
the festivities in this week's blog by Artix Entertainment.



Champions Online: Lemuria Overview

http://www.tentonhammer.com/co/guides/lemuriaoverview



The
underwater zone of Lemuria is probably the most unusual zone in
Champions Online. The sunken civilization of Lemuria is also home to
ghostly pirates and dangerous sea creatures. To help you navigate these
dangerous waters, your pals at Ten Ton Hammer are here to provide an
overview of this watery realm.



Global Agenda PvE Intro

http://www.tentonhammer.com/globalagenda/guides/pve_intro



This
isn't your usual PvE--your AI opponents move and shoot just like you!
In this guide you'll learn how to deal with the first threats the
Commonwealth throws at you. Even the lowliest of grunts can take you
down in less than 10 seconds and it only gets meaner from there. Our
intro to PvE will help you show up well prepared.

Today's
Hottest Articles and Guides

1. Love
   Connections: Developers' First Gaming Loves
2. Stargate
   Resistance PC Review href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/81065">
   
   
3. Defining
   the Lore of Guild Wars 2 - A Q&A with
   ArenaNet's Jeff Grubb
4. Allods
   Online Archetype Interview Series Part 2 - The Healer href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80983"> style="font-weight: bold;">
5. style="font-weight: bold;">Bioshock 2 Review
6. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/globalagenda/editorials/whatclass"> style="font-weight: bold;">Global Agenda Questionnaire - Which
   Class is Right for You
7. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/tanksandhealersincataclysm">WoW href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/tanksandhealersincataclysm">
   - Tank and Healer Symbiosis in Cataclysm: A Wish List
8. style="font-weight: bold;">EQ2 Battleground
   Preview
9. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80680">EVE
   Online href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80680">
   Sins of a Solar Spymaster #38: Self-Immolation for Fun and Profit
10. Top
    10
    PvP MMOGs

---

Thanks
for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer
network!

- Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg
and the
Ten Ton Hammer team