Sigil's Nick Parkinson on Open Beta
Interview by Shayalyn
It was the shock heard 'round the world--or at least throughout the Vanguard community. First Fileplanet posted a front page advertisement stating that subscribers would be the first to receive an invitation to beta, and offering the "6.6 gig game client" for immediate download. ("Download for hours on launch day, or sign up for beta notification and get the file now!") Then a member of the official Vanguard forums posted that he'd talked to an SOE customer service rep in live chat support who told him that the "expected date" for open beta was January 4, 2007.
News like this (and the accompanying speculation) spreads like wildfire through a gaming community, especially when it relates to open beta, the dropping of the Vanguard non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and the impending launch of a game many are anxiously anticipating. Is Sigil really ready to kick off beta 5 (open beta) soon? What does that mean for the game? Some can't wait for a chance to play Vanguard, while others fear that the game may be rushing to launch unpolished.
Sigil's community manager, Nick Parkinson, was kind enough to take a moment to answer my questions and share some information about open beta with the Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer community.
[Ten Ton Hammer]: Many of us have seen the rumor recently leaked on the official Vanguard forums which suggests that open beta is expected to begin January 4, 2007. Of course, “expected” doesn’t mean for certain, but can you say with certainty that open beta will begin some time in early January?
[Nick Parkinson]: Beta 5, or “open” beta, will be starting in early January.
[TTH]: Some Vanguard fans consider moving into open beta so soon after beginning beta 4 (which started in mid-December) as rushing things. We know that much of the content on Kojan was just added and has had limited testing. What prompted this move to open beta so soon after the beginning of beta 4? Does Sigil simply feel the game is ready for open beta, or are there other motivating factors?
[NP]: It’s just the right time for beta 5 to start. I think our unusually long prior phases probably threw some folks off and they (understandably) assumed the final two phases would be equally long. Fortunately, we’re at the point where they don’t need to be now and we feel the month or so that beta 4 will have lasted when we move on to beta 5 will be sufficient.
[TTH]: An open beta in early January would likely put Vanguard on target to launch shortly after Blizzard’s first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, which will launch January 16. Is it Sigil’s intent to go head to head with the WoW expansion?
[NP]: There are a lot of gamers out there. We think that as long as the games are good, both titles can do just fine.
[TTH]: Will the NDA be lifted at the beginning of open beta?
[NP]: Yes, the NDA will be lifted.
[TTH]: Sigil representatives have often said, “Vanguard will launch when it’s ready.” Will open beta only last a specific length of time, or will it continue until Sigil deems Vanguard “ready?”
[NP]: We’ve got a target date in mind (which we’ll be making public in the near future) and unless something drastic happens between now and then we’ll be ready. It’s hard to say anything else given that there are so many different situations that the answer could vary quite a bit for. I can say though, that we will do what’s best for the game.
[TTH]: Since beta 5 means many new players, how many beta servers might we expect? Will the number of beta players help determine the number of shards Vanguard will launch with? When might we know the official names of the shards available for launch?
[NP]: The servers will be named after famous heroes in Vanguard lore. Keep an eye on the affiliate fan sites over the next week or two to get a full list of their names. We do have plans for how many servers we’ll have during open beta and launch, but player numbers during open beta can also affect that. (i.e. If 50 bazillion people sign up for open beta, we’ll probably get some more servers set up before we launch.
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[TTH]: What are Sigil’s goals for beta 5? What does the team hope to accomplish with this new push forward?
[NP]: Beta 5 will mostly be stress testing with LOTS of bug fixing and polish. The “core” systems and game play will be in and we’ll just be tweaking the final parts before we send it to the store shelves