It’s fair to say there’s quite a bit of excitement building for this weekend’s huge game test, with everyone who registered for game testing before the 11th November getting a chance to have a try of SWTOR. If you haven’t already, the email invite you’ll receive will tell you how to download the 25+GB client and you’ll want to start that as soon as you can so you’re ready for when the virtual doors open. When they do, here’s what to expect:
1. A queue: every test weekend I’ve been involved in (i.e. one) has had queues of 500+ people. I have no doubt Bioware will have huge number of servers online but still expect to queue – it’s a great time to read some strategy guides of maybe listen to a Flash Point podcast!
2. Crowded questing areas: once you’ve actually been able to log in and set up your first character, you can expect to be rubbing shoulders with lots of fellow testers. That can make achieving quest objectives a little more time consuming but it also gives you an excuse to slow down and check out your surroundings rather than rushing to level up.
3. Crashes: like any beta you may have the whole game crash, although I have to say that’s happened to me a sum total of once. Even if it happens to you more often, think of it as great data for Bioware to make the game even better.
4. Fun: yes, you will have some of that thing called fun. Even if you have the worst of luck with queues, crowds and crashes, you’ll still get some time actually playing!
Over to you: have you received your invite and if so, what are your specific plans for the weekend?
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Not sure how true 1 and 2 are. I didnt face a queue once during my beta weekend, and the upcoming test weekend will have staggered access so this will probably smooth out queues and crowded quest areas. Specific plans are based on whether I get in Friday, Saturday or Sunday (CST Time).
1. if you log in within the first 10 minutes, no queues.
20 minutes after that ? you might want to make yourself coffee or a sandwich. or breakfast.
That said, being there in the first few minutes does not guarantee anything.
If anything, the one constant of being in early is the reduced general chat.
It’s part of the beta experience i find the most fun, what other people are doing. and you’ll definitely see a lot of people on the ground. I really enjoyed seeing general chat during that opening quest and it gets better, then worse, then terrible, then you change planets. then it’s not there anymore and then it comes back.
it’s not an MMO without amusing, distracting or degenerating general chat alongside action and adventure and killing small animals. it’s in the definition of the experience.
2. the curent beta ? 18-19gb. it’s on a diet from the beta. pre-thanksgiving binge ? maybe.
3. if you haven’t got an invite yet, check http://www.swtor.com/tester anyway, sometimes the email doesn’t come through.
Also, you may want to check your password and security question/answers on the SWTOR.com site are all up to date, or you’ll download the client and wont be able to log in, using it to download.
4. CTD’s sometimes happen, most should be ironed out if you change all the UI settings as you create the first character on the server selection screen before you log in. there may be some black screens during loading the game, but it’s not a long wait.
You shouldn’t get too many crashes anyway, some glitches can happen, you could hotkey the bug report button which creates screenshots to submit where you were when it crashed.
5. Expect Clippit
questions and surveys can pop up at any time.
6. Still not sure what class to pick ? here’s a handy infographic http://www.starwarsmmolevelingguide.com/swtor-classes-advanced-classes-and-roles-breakdown/
7. To make the most of the weekend, here’s some NDA-level tips from the last few Beta’s to help you save time and find your way around. If you have 10 minutes, read through as much as you can, even if it seems useless now, 10 minutes reading ahead should save you an hour or more in game, http://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/ma562/compiled_list_of_pro_tips/ and http://www.reddit.com/r/swtor/comments/l81o9/itt_share_your_knowledge_tips_and_tricks_from_beta/
8. if you choose to play one character, you should be able to level up far enough to get your own ship, which really opens things up. but if you don’t get there due to… Life, Queues, Crashes, or actual disasters, don’t panic. there’s always someone else’s youtube videos of all the things you never thought about doing.
9. 1 week from now,
when the withdrawal hits,
there will be youtube videos of the beta you can watch.
Great stuff Michael 😉
On 11/11/11 I was on queue for hours, from about 9pm 11/11/11 (I had things to do that day) until about 1:30 AM 11/12/11. The queue was about 4000 (4k) long. After that, I had few problems logging in for the rest of the weekend, with only a few hundred on a longish queue later 11/12.