So they''re going to beat WoW to the market afterall...

That can''t be accurate. That is like in 2 weeks, no open beta? Is there anyway the game is ready to ship in 2 weeks?

If this is true, then this stinks so much of SWG opening day.

I think that if I get this game in the mail November 8th, I would just let it sit on my desk for a few months until it''s REALLY done.

Nope it isnt read for Primetime - not at all - it will go sneakers up like opening night of the original...

It''s funny, but I tend to want to wait on a game that''s NOT an MMOG. At least until the first patch, which is often release week, if not release DAY.

An MMOG? Dude, that thing is a moving target. There''s no such thing as done. You can never finish development on an MMOG. What you can do is develop a relatively stable and bug-free *client* and what you estimate to be enough content that the leet dewds are not berating you in your forums for not having enough high-end content at then end of the first month of release.

Balance? Hah! ""Completeness""? Pfffffffft. id/Blizzard-style ""When it''s done""-ness? Not this lifetime, not an MMOG. Not even WoW. (Not saying WoW won''t be polished or sleek or refined, but it won''t be ""done"", it won''t be fully balanced, and all of the content will not be ""complete"". EQ''s team just has more practice at doing the post-release this-is-the-real-crunch-time dance/race with the powergamers. I bet they''ve already got the first patch planned, contentwise.)

Well, they''ve sent the memo to the big game retailers:

EBGames

GameStop

So I''d say you can pretty much take that to the bank. That means they have to have the client dvd/cds pressed starting next Monday to get them to retailers in time.

If I was a betting man I would not bet that release is Nov 8. There is just no way not with all the changes coming for the class structure and crafting.

They are still having problems with the login servers and a few other big things too.

If they do release this early it would be a horrible mess.

I could be wrong but I just would be really surprised.

This makes like zero sense...this is their 4th MMOG launch... you''d think by now login servers for SOE/Verant would be bascially cookie cutter..good lord.

Given their Success with SWG and that launch nothing would suprise me coming out of SOE/Verant anymore.

I wonder if it''s possible that, being pre-release, they''ve got it in a place on the network that is causing network problems with the logging in. I know, here at work, we''ve got some... odd things going on, networkwise, that cause odd, unexplained, intermittent problems that we know could be fixed by moving the server, but we can''t due to security reasons.

Maybe, maybe at launch, they will get it right this time, and it''s just a matter of moving a machine from behind a firewall to the DMZ.

Nah, it''ll be a cockup on release.

I know I''ll get in trouble for saying this but a lot of the time people cannot get into the game has nothing to do with with the game but the persons machine. I would also like to add that just because you did something multiple times doesn''t mean you are not goingto have the same problems when you create a new game. By your logic, every buggy product that is put out by Atari shouldn''t happen since they have released many games.

I understand that but if you really were going to release a game having problems in this area would be a disaster on launch day.

By the way here is another official comment on the beta boards about the release date.

WoW is by far the more polished and engrossing game - IMHO - let the flames commence

If this does turn out to be true my only reaction is, Holy sh*t!

Is SOE really that scared of WoW stealing their thunder, and/or in that desperate a need of generating income?

I mean seriously, that is the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense for this ""shoot yourself in the foot, with a BFG"" idea.

Once again, if SOE does go thru with this we might be talking about a WWII Online size launch disaster by Christmas.

My contention is that I could care less which is a more complete game at launch, I''m curious where the game will end up 6 to 12 months down the road.

The problem I have with WoW is the endgame. I don''t think PvP in MMOGs is fun--predominantly because it takes too much time and effort balancing character classes and because the outcome of largescale PvP encounters generally is determined more by lag and zerging than it is by any type of realistic strategy. I played it in DAOC and is Shadowbane and I could go so far as to say that PvP was, by in large, just as predictable as PvE, thereby essentially adding nothing to the game (for me). I quit investing (much) time in CoH and one of the reasons is becaue they decided on City of Villians as their first expansion. I just don''t dig it.

I''m pretty much planning on playing EQ2 (though I may check WoW out for the free 30 days) and it''s predominantly because I''d rather have the devs focused on fixing the PvE bugs, developing new PvE content, and not spending time on things in which I don''t particularly see myself taking part.

I don''t really consider myself an SoE fanboi (though it may sound it), and I don''t have anything against blizzard--I was hellbent on WoW being my ""next game"" until I had an opportunity to actually read about what EQ2 was all about. I played EQ for about three years on and off, and I too suffered the emotional scars (joke) that Verant, McQuaid (sp?) and his brilliant Vision(tm) inflicted upon me. However, in the spirit of capitalism and second, third, fourth, fifth, and yes even sixth (damn you SWG) chances, I figure I may as well give EQ2 a chance to impress me.

EQ2, for me, was much more engrossing. I just don''t care about what is going on in WoW and the WoW UI is horrid.