So, I think we all know now why there wasn't a public beta.

[Mkilbride]

That hype machine would've been torn to shreds nigh instantly.

For a MMO to not have a open beta...is quite unusual. Every major MMO game has an open beta for release, to test on a far wider range of systems and user base to make sure they've covered everything and launch is smooth, as well as test servers.

NDA's are usually lifted on a game about a month, to three months before release.

Defiance had no open beta. It's NDA was in effect almost until the game was released. THey were doing everything they possibly could to show off and let people play as little of the game as they could.

Guild Wars 2 had several months of beta, then closed down for months while they fixed what they had found, then released...I might add, a really smooth release. One of the smoothest in MMO history. It had a few bumps, but far less than a MMO of it's scale usually gets. I was able to play from Early Access through launch day without issue.

The show was supposed to help this MMO, but perhaps the show airing soon forced a rush release? So that they weren't able to have a open / public beta?

It could've helped them fine tune the game and make it a game people wanted to buy. Instead, they were worried people would play it, not like it, and not buy it. So they locked it away til release day.

And that is the reason for the worst MMO launch in years, not because of bugs or technical issues, but those are present, but mainly because primary features needed for the game to succeed are missing.

[soarra]

Lol everyone who signed up for beta got in to at least 1 weekend
The game plays fine, and its launch day fricken deal with some bugs.
What features are missing?
worst launch? LOL guess you never heard of WoW

That hype machine would've been torn to shreds nigh instantly.

For a MMO to not have a open beta...is quite unusual. Every major MMO game has an open beta for release, to test on a far wider range of systems and user base to make sure they've covered everything and launch is smooth, as well as test servers.

NDA's are usually lifted on a game about a month, to three months before release.

Defiance had no open beta. It's NDA was in effect almost until the game was released. THey were doing everything they possibly could to show off and let people play as little of the game as they could.

Guild Wars 2 had several months of beta, then closed down for months while they fixed what they had found, then released...I might add, a really smooth release. One of the smoothest in MMO history. It had a few bumps, but far less than a MMO of it's scale usually gets. I was able to play from Early Access through launch day without issue.

The show was supposed to help this MMO, but perhaps the show airing soon forced a rush release? So that they weren't able to have a open / public beta?

It could've helped them fine tune the game and make it a game people wanted to buy. Instead, they were worried people would play it, not like it, and not buy it. So they locked it away til release day.

And that is the reason for the worst MMO launch in years, not because of bugs or technical issues, but those are present, but mainly because primary features needed for the game to succeed are missing.

[Oster]

Not that I don't love a good conspiracy theory but anybody who wanted to could easily pre-order the game, get into Beta 3, see the state of the game and cancel their pre-order none the worse.

It may not have been an "open" beta but anybody who wanted in could pretty easily have gotten in, I fail to see how they were hiding anything. I'm just as pissed as the next guy about some of the stupid issues with the launch but if you think this is the worst MMO launch in years, the credibility in everything else you just typed is pretty much void.

[Dixa]

Lol everyone who signed up for beta got in to at least 1 weekend
The game plays fine, and its launch day fricken deal with some bugs.
What features are missing?
worst launch? LOL guess you never heard of WoW

worst launch is probably still swg. people were unable to even create accounts or characters the first 48 hours. (you could not just download the game in 2002 you had to have a boxed copy)

[femur]

All anyone had to do was register I order to get into the beta. Given that the game is on consoles actually accounts for the shorter beta periods, MS and Sony have done a lot of the networking work already.

as MMO launches go, today was pretty smooth IMO. I know some euro players had problems, but they got ironed out pretty quickly. I was patched and up and running in under an hour. I've had way worse starts on MMOs.

Anyone remember Anarchy Online? Great game but brutal launch!

[Zunjin]

Everyone who cared got excess to the beta. MMORGP.com still had 4000+ beta keys available on the last day of the last beta weekend.

And speaking about hype... Defiance wasn't hyped in my country (Germany). Most gamer still haven't heard about the game or the show.

[ChipNinja]

I love when gamers base their opinions on what other games have done without understanding the actual process.

So other MMOs had open "betas" before release? I've been in a lot of betas both as a fan, and completely closed betas unannounced (you know... name in the credits and all that). Beta isn't demo - but most MMOs you cite use them for exactly that. They try to create hype by letting people in early.

It's really as simple as people feeling entitled. They need special attention... and if things aren't how they want to see them, then it's wrong.

Sure, there are some bugs here and there. But overall, I've experienced far fewer problems with Defiance's release than I have with other MMOs. If you've got a problem with it, QQ. You're free to move on and play something else.

These OMG the game sucks and won't succeed posts are just plain dumb. If you bought something you weren't expecting, maybe you should start doing research before handing people your money...

But then again... I'm developing a game that gives reacharounds while playing. Want to preorder?

[Shinji Ex]

I got in right away into phase 3 after signing up
so beta was kind of public...

And the beta was awesome ran better than I'd expected!
so when I get some things squared away will be downloading this bad boy soon

[RaveMoyers]

I think the worst mmo release was WARZ lol. such a scam.

[Leohopefull2011]

You know I got into the beta as a ps+ member and thats actually what made me drop 150 on the ultimate. Played all day until the server went down, took my wife to work and got back on. I'm still enjoying it.. to tell the truth more so than i enjoyed wow, and I played that for at least 2 years.