I hope Funcom reads this... ;)

[Switchfront]

Forget I ever posted

[Cowtipper]

You're absolutely correct, Switchfront. Something like what happened to you and other players shouldn't be happening. A warning message on the AO Launcher since the Pre-orders started shipping, or a message in the game description that's given to the retailers would help. Also, maybe even a small insert into the game box in the first production run couldn't have hurt. The installation could have even checked to see whether the date was correct.

I would have probably done the same thing, gotten just as pissed, then re-installed the game and complain about it for a few hours then go have a beer. After the beer, I don't care anymore.

[Tarryk]

Personally, and I hate to play devil's advocate here, but I'm just floored. It's going to be everything I can do not to have a similar counter-rant during my next over this lack of foresight.

Let's go step by step here.

1. AI is not released yet. Obviously.

2. You got your PRE-ORDER box of the INSTALLATION of a game that is NOT RELEASED YET. Obviously.

3. YOU INSTALLED IT.

At step 3, I'm afraid I can post zero blame on Funcom for not printing "VIOLENTLY SHOVING INSTALLATION CD DOWN YOUR THROAT MAY LEAD TO INJURY OR DEATH" on the back of the box, because someone out there MUST have thought that was how to install it since it clearly never said otherwise anywhere on the package.

[Cowtipper]

Substitute Frisbee with Funcom's AI Installation disc:

http://www.msu.edu/~couilla3/ninja/seppuku.htm

[Oddysee]

At step 3, I'm afraid I can post zero blame on Funcom for not printing "VIOLENTLY SHOVING INSTALLATION CD DOWN YOUR THROAT MAY LEAD TO INJURY OR DEATH" on the back of the box, because someone out there MUST have thought that was how to install it since it clearly never said otherwise anywhere on the package.

Arh, the exact reason I love America. ^^

Joke aside, I've never met a yank (can one say yank and not offend?) who was that stupid... I'm begining to believe it's just some urban legend as the peeps I've met (who were older than 15, 15-year-olds can still be asshats, not all, but some) have been really cool and drasticly changed the opinion we're otherwise fed here in europe.

Disclaimer aside, I kinda see this from both views... I woulnd't have thought any changes would kick in till launch, so installing would be a way to save a bit of last min installation time?
On the other hand, all logic states that installing the drivers and protocols for a server setup that hasn't gone live yet, would ptobably cause a bit of trouble... Hmm, bad luck I guess... Look at the bright side, if you rent all episodes of "Days of our lives" you can watch that non-stop for 7 days and AO will seem all the more welcoming when you return! ^^





Tm

[Tacz]

I think this is a fault on two parts, FunCom should've warned, but some others should have put 26375916 and 1263378 together to get 27639294.

And call us yankEEs, a yank is something a little different

[Lauri]

We've had a warning on the AO Launcher for a few days now, beckoning people to not install their pre-order copy. O.o

[Demongirl]

strangely i don't remember why i was posting here... I already forgot what I was replying to.

[Darth Bootay]

1) Stupidity is, sadly, a pandemic condition. It was never quarantined inside the borders of the States.

2) "Yanks", unless used in a derrogatory tone, isn't a bad word, so just simmer down, get off your pride and stop taking yourself so seriously. I'd sooner hear Oddy call me a yank affectionately as he does than hear "damned American" hissed at me with genuine dislike by some stranger who hasn't a clue about who Americans really are. If he starts calling us "gits" and "wankers", THEN it's time to get a little irate.

3) Not placing a warning or comment on a software that will not work correctly before a certain date is an oversight on the part of the company that produces the documentation, packaging and physical components of that software. They MUST in all reasonability assume that all consumers will think that if they RECIEVE their product that the product will work as intended from the time of reciept. That is the reality of today's market.

Now, I KNOW Tarryk is just frothing at the mouth to write his counter-rant and let loose the dogs of flame, but let's look at things from an objective and rational perspective, shall we?

Yes, an EXPERIENCED gamer, when recieving a highly anticipated add-on to an existing MMO run ONLY on the game comapny's servers should, if he can contain his excitement and exercise logic, be able to come to the conclusion that loading that add-on runs a risk of making his existing game unplayable if he does it before the announced starting date. This assumes that said gamer has been playing for a very long time and has a decent understanding of the technical aspects of his game. Most people cannot honestly claim this.

MOST people who use computers neither know, nor CARE to know the tech that goes into the machines they play on, the tech that is involved in connecting their machines to other machines or the tech involved in running whatever games and services they use on a daily basis. All they know is that if you follow a certain set of steps, you get a certain set of results. If they DON'T get the expected results, they'll often turn to whatever documentation they have with their product (after a few repeats of the conditioned steps without the desired result) to see if they've done something wrong. If they can't find the answer there after a fairly brief and cursory examination, they will most often turn to the technical support of the company that made the item that is not working and expect them to make it work for them. If the company does NOT do this, the person will become rather more irate.

This tendency to follow a conditioned path to achieve a desired set of results and the behavior that follows the failure of these actions to produce the desired result is a direct result of the market's standards of product and product support and has been called "reasonable expectation". Computers and games have been simplified so that the average person who knows NOTHING aout computers or the internet can use both with very little difficulty, install their own software and use it with less trouble than making a satisfactory piece of toast. So unless a software's documentation includes a notice that it will not perform or may interfere with the performance of existing softwares if installed before a certain specified date, it is perfectly normal for a consumer to think there is absolutely no danger in loading that software any time he likes. This is a "reasonable expectation". So as a consumer, Switchfront has every reason to be frustrated and irate about his current situation.

*evil grin*

Now, SOME of us are seasoned operators and have spent some time inside the computer, internet or software industry. As a result, we have a fairly intimate understanding of how these things are made and maintained. We spend a lot of time with other people involved in the process of making, maintaining or supporting computers, bandwidth, software, etc. And as a result, we begin to take our intimate knowledge of our craft for granted. We begin to assume that Joe the Insurance salesman or Betty the Auto Mechanic are going to know everything we do. We think that they should "know better" than to download an email attatchment from an unknown sender or load a game software before the game starts. To us, this is common sense. But it's not. No more than Betty expecting us to know how to bleed our brakelines or rebuild an exhaust system on a 1997 Ford Taurus. Beginning to get the picture?

Hopefully this will ease a little of Switchfront's feeling of sheepishness and circumvent any smartassed comments from the peanut gallery who haven't made the same mistake he has because they haven't gotten the game yet.

[Cowtipper]

I was speaking from an industry insider point of view. I am a computer technician and I work with various software installations throughout the day.

I find it odd that the expansion pack was released so early for the pre-orders. I normally see these things sent a day or so before the determined on-the-shelf date. That way the players end up with the expansion pack in the mail the day it's on the shelf.

While it was nice of them to ship it early to the people who pre-ordered, still there should have been some sort of warning that installation of the expansion pack before the determined on-the-shelf release date will result in a game installation that is no longer functional or able to connect to the AO servers.

I have also had experience with almost every MMORPG on the market. The expansion packs for the games that I felt deserved the money long enough to reach the maturity for an expansion pack merely required me to enter in a product code into my account information. The cd I was given was merely an updated installation disk of all the patches since release and up to the point that the expansion went gold. I mean, honestly, with an MMORPG, even if you give the new content only to the people who buy the expansion pack, those who don't have the expansion pack still need to be able to see the additional content so it will be released through an update anyway. That or through subsequent updates over a few months before the expansion goes gold.

EDIT: (I just realized that AO uses the restrictions similar to Everquest where 'zones' and equipment are blocked off from those who do not have the appropriate expansion packs. This makes the above point null, but then again, there will still be content that needs to be downloaded from non-expansion pack owners so they can see it on their friends' avatars.)

From a former software developer's point of view, I would expect to be bitched at if I created an update that made a customer's product stop functioning and I didn't create some sort of warning to cover my ass in the situation. Whether it be a simple sheet of paper in the box that lists what the user needs to check, or a warning when the program comes up and detects certain parameters which would cause a problem.

Ahh well, as I said, if I had screwed it up I wouldn't have sat and broiled over it for several days. It only takes an hour or so to uninstall the game, delete the directory, re-install the game again, and run the updates. The game installation is available from the website if you don't have the original CD's like me (I was invited into the game by a friend, so I downloaded it). After that I would be set to play, and preach that everyone not install the expansion pack from that point until the 'patch day.'

[Vallikat]

2) "Yanks", unless used in a derrogatory tone, isn't a bad word, so just simmer down, get off your pride and stop taking yourself so seriously. I'd sooner hear Oddy call me a yank affectionately as he does than hear "damned American" hissed at me with genuine dislike by some stranger who hasn't a clue about who Americans really are. If he starts calling us "gits" and "wankers", THEN it's time to get a little irate.

Not all of us share your opinion. Its one thing to state that you don't find it offensive. Its another to state that it simply isn't offensive. I'm sure some people would disagree with you. As it happens, I agree with your opinion on this, I just don't like to make blanket assumptions regarding other people's points of view.

Yes, an EXPERIENCED gamer, when recieving a highly anticipated add-on to an existing MMO run ONLY on the game comapny's servers should, if he can contain his excitement and exercise logic, be able to come to the conclusion that loading that add-on runs a risk of making his existing game unplayable if he does it before the announced starting date. This assumes that said gamer has been playing for a very long time and has a decent understanding of the technical aspects of his game. Most people cannot honestly claim this.

Yeah, but I think Switchfront has been around long enough that he can honestly claim this, so your statement doesn't really apply.

As to my opinion, I sort of see both sides of the issue. There are the younger people amoung the player base who tend to not have such great impulse control. Since the younger set makes up a significant portion of the player base, I think funcom should've been clear beyond all reasonable doubt that the game should not have been installed early. Since they obviously weren't that clear, then I think they should have a way for Switchfront and others in his same boat (as I'm quite sure he's not alone) to roll back the install and continue to play as usual.

Switchfront, if it looks like I'm saying you have poor impulse control, I'm not. I think you had a lapse of good judgement. But I think that we all have such lapses from time to time and the developers, being human beings, should probably have taken that into account. I'm sorry that they didn't. I hope they find some way of fixing this for you.

[Tarryk]

I'll close my own case with:

Lauri is right. There was a warning on the launcher window ever since they sent it out, that says DO NOT INSTALL AI YET.

Anyone who played AO even once and read the launcher window (SOMETHING THAT IS SPLASHED ON YOUR SCREEN EVERY TIME YOU RUN THE GAME), would have known that.

Granted that Switchfront, as is the case with many others, passes over the launcher window without reading it. (EDIT: Yes, including myself many times, but only if it "looks the same" as it did last time I scanned over it)

In my opinion, that is no different than not reading the back of the box, on which might have been printed the same warning. Understandable mistake? Sure. Cause to blame the company?

Not in a million years.

I still call it a matter of "don't cut down the tree if you don't know how to use the chainsaw". If anyone is aware that AI is on pre-order, then they are very likely either playing AO or tracking it closely. In both cases, they will be aware of it's launch date. In said case, and with great finality, I say that it IS, inarguably and contrary to the generalizations posed by StBoo, a strict matter of common sense.

And we all have a lapse in that now and again.

[Switchfront]

Forget I posted this too........

[Ike]

Uninstall, reinstall, problem solved.

Just back up your prefs folder first

[Oddysee]

Well, Switchy's right about one thing... The Launcher changes every launch, so with bad luck, it might be possible to miss the "Do not install till Sep. 1" warning... I personally have yet to see it, and I log on everyday. But then, I can't afford to pre-order right now (life is rotten) so it's not really an issue for me anyway... No leet for me

Suck it up Switchy, just s few more days... You can do it!






Tm

[Gridfan]

I find it odd that the expansion pack was released so early for the pre-orders. I normally see these things sent a day or so before the determined on-the-shelf date. That way the players end up with the expansion pack in the mail the day it's on the shelf.

Well ther WAS the Notum Wars incident. (given, it was a issue in the dtstribution chain outside FC's direct control)
Shadowlands was way better.

Myself I still haven't gotten the AI box yet. hopefully I get it right over the
weekend, if not, I won't be able to install AI until some time after the launch date which kinda sucks but I'm a very understanding induvidual. As long as I get my leets lol.

International distribution is a pain, some people order from local stores, others from international/online stores.
So a very early shipping almost guarantee all pre order customers have the box before launch.

Hopefully next time the "installer" will poke a location on the website to check if it's "safe" to install or not.
And if not, resfuse to install.
That should be far easier for FC to add to the installer script than changing their patch system.

[Cowtipper]

Just a little update. I purchased my pre-order directly from Funcom's store, and I received a 'your item has shipped' notice. In the notice it states that the expansion pack will not work until September 1st.

I understand that you were just goofing off with the rant Switchfront, that's how I took it when you posted it. I responded in a hopefully similar way, but kinda looks like I didn't. I was under the influence, under the influence of NyQuil.

[Jairyn]

Mmmm Nyquil.....

The nighttime sneezing sniffling fuck you up good so you wake up 2 days later medicine

I remember it well... I think

[Mumon]

It sounds to me like this is an EUE

EUE=End User Error

[Cowtipper]

I like ID-10T errors, but I don't think it applies here. That's a severe case
Eye-Dee Ten-Tee