Sigil you are a bit unkind to us in Europe

[Greymain]

So I missed my Gryphon ride and switched on my machine after breakfast to find that free level 20 characters had been announced and allocated while I slept. I do understand that all the GM's want to get to bed but it does make me feel like a second class beta tester.

[Aadwen]

I'm sorry you feel this way. You must understand though that this is an American game. It's made by American's, in America. Now America does not seem that far from Europe via the internet, but it's 5477 miles from San Diego, USA to London, UK. It's also an 8 hour difference. If there was a Europe MMO, I can't see America getting away with complaining that they are not paying attention to us. Europe has video game makers. They can make MMO's also. We also know that V:SoH wants to include the outside of the US of A players. If they had the money and resources they would set up servers around the world. At some point they will get to that. Just remember you can't make all the people happy all of the time. This does not make your beta input any less valuable to the team.

Aadwen

[LordOfLA]

Get a job on the night shift problem solved

[Nosyd-V]

I'm in a closed beta test of a game made in Europe (The Chronicles of Spellborn). The same sort of things happen regarding testing times and the like with that game. The US testers are always asking for times to be changed or added to, to allow them better access. I guess it's just the way things have to be, depending on which side of the pond you are and where the game is being developed.

[Pirotess]

This has been a historic problem in just about every game I've ever been involved with with possibly the exception of World of Warcraft due to the sheer number of servers it has which virtually forced Blizzard to setup dedicated support for the EU folks. I empathize with you, I really do. Unfortunately Vanguard isnt going to operate on the scale of WoW, at least not at launch, so its going to take some time before things improve. I hope that the EU folks will be patient and allow that to happen. If not and this game becomes largely a US game it will be a blow to the games profit generation and therefore ability to continue innovative development.

[Kiril]

As a European beta tester and future player I can understand where Greymain is coming from they could have kept 5% of the griffon in reserve till the following morning and release them so the Europeans could get them, but I also understand that the time difference to Europe and through out Europe make it hard for sigil to do these things. SOE have a server farm in Amsterdam which might be used for the launch which would be great unless Koch Media is in charge of that aswell, which could explain delays and such.
One of the things that really annoyes me tho isn't the fact that the support for Europe is running hot and cold at times, its the replies mainly on the OVFs and kinda with Aadwens line "Europe has video game makers. They can make MMO's also" We also make TV shows yet you's still get them, and quite quickly and easily, games shouldn't be any different and for the main aren't for example the company I work with should be recieving copies of Supreme Commander from THQ 2 weeks before offical release. People qoute the fact the Europe is made up of lots of different countries and languages and such as excuses for the lack of information on the European front, but most Europeans are Bilingual at least. The EU has laws for games coming into the EU, and that means once the game passes the laws it can be sold at ease, in the one currency in most countries. SOE know this as they launched EQ2 expansions (not sure on the launch of EQ2) at the same time in Europe as the US because they are already a company in the EU its very very easy for them to sell in the EU, so you can understand the confusion of us Europeans when Sigil brought in Koch Media for European publishing when SOE are already here.
Europeans take up about 18% of the WOW population, US players take up 25% so I can understand the emphasis on US players to an extent, but (now this will be controversal) in general history of media (film, games, books etc.) the more hardcore has had bigger uptake in Europe, there are alot more artfarty people over here not looking for instance fixes which is the opposite in the generalized view of Americans on this side of the water. I know this reads like a rant, and it is, but it is a very sore point with me at the moment after reading lots of posts on the OVF with people asking for information and being treated badly by the flamers on the board. I know no posts in this thread or on these forums (which I think are great btw) are like that, its just LordOfLA's and Aadwen's posts, while I know were not intended in the way I read them did make me see red and sorry for that, and I only rant with and at the best people.

[tehgeek]

Originally Posted by Greymain

So I missed my Gryphon ride and switched on my machine after breakfast to find that free level 20 characters had been announced and allocated while I slept. I do understand that all the GM's want to get to bed but it does make me feel like a second class beta tester.

I've been away for the weekend, what is this "lvl 20 character"?

[Kethra]

There was a stress test event last night that let people visit beta buffers to increase their level. Here's the post by Glip from the beta announcement board.

Starting Saturday, January 20th at 8:00pm PST (that's right now!) we will be adding NPCs to Khal that will allow players to set their level 30 and get level appropriate gear. This is in an effort to help the last major round of testing for content at that level.

Details for the event:
- The event will be on Servers 1, 2, 3 and PvP
- NPCs will be in Khal from 8:00pm PST to midnight PST
- You MUST use a level 1 character for them to set your level to 30. Otherwise, it will not work.


Edit: Update, the level has increased from 20 to 30
__________________
Nick Parkinson
Community Manager
Sigil Games Online
"Where are my pants?"

I understand all the EU players' concerns and we'll try to get the newest information about the EU server status to you guys as soon as possible. I know it's asking a lot, but please be patient until we see what comes of things.

And yes, Elrar has said that there are standby servers waiting in Amsterdam for overflow issues, and that when the time comes, they will offer free character transfers.

[Kiril]

We are all being patient here, sorry for the rant earlier, needed it out of my system. We know its based in the US and times will be unfair and we would like them to make a special case to help us but with time and coming so close to live they can't its ok. Just what gets me and I'm sure Aadwen didn't mean it, is this you should be lucky your getting anything attitude that was so common on the OVF at times. I'm happy with one server at launch if it can take the load, and they probably know the number of beta keys in europe and the number of preorders and so know can guesstimate the number on server and reckon one is enough and these guys know what they are doing so we'll be patient, its just annoying to miss out on some good things because of where you live.

[Kethra]

I know! I'd offer a hug but people would look at me funny.

It's good to rant/vent, get things out of your system. And don't worry, you can do that here (in good taste that is, no foul language, personal attacks) and not worry about being flamed for it.