Dark Souls II – Prepare to (Not) Log In

There was another round of Network Tests for Dark Souls II over the weekend. It was great that people were given the chance to help From Software test their new dedicated servers to make Dark Souls II’s online component much smoother. However, some sort of hiccup with Daylight Savings Time here in the West and a problem with the NA version patch needed to play during the three-hour test window, ended with North and South American testers unable to connect. They apologized profusely once they knew they were not going to be able to rectify the problem in time, and promised to reschedule for another time, with anyone who has the test client on their system privileged to play the next round of tests.

Despair Ahead

While it sucks that America didn’t get the chance to participate in the Network Test, it’s really appalling to see how some people have handled it. The amount of vitriol is staggering, and the comments are a poor example of a fanbase and gaming communities in general. The only leeway I can give on my impressions of how people handled this is because it was very late, and anyone without sleep is probably going to be cranky. Even I was a little irritated with it, but hey, I’m able to keep my cool and preoccupy my time…also by reading up on how annoyed other people are getting, and shaking my head at those who flew off the handle.

Sweet! The hand that feeds me *CHOMP*

First off…way to address the people who so graciously provided you the opportunity to help them test their network. Second of all, “Scamco?” How did they scam you? What did you lose other than hours of sleep that you chose to pay? The obligatory “you guys don’t care!” is so overdone, but I can forgive it because people are upset and not thinking straight. Obviously they care, but in our “gimme it now” society, the time they spent trying to fix the problem before giving people a definitive answer of the situation is just “horrible PR.”

Also on the subject of “horrible PR,” I just had to laugh at people complaining on the Dark Souls facebook page about how they’ve given no information or updates on the problem, and citing horrible public relations – even though many knew what was going on because they used the other 99% of the internet to read forums and tweets. This amounted to “Rawr rawr! This sucks because they didn’t tell me what was going on on this one source that I myself use! Rawr rawr!”

Then, there’s the people seemingly so disappointed that they declare they’re going to cancel their reservation on Dark Souls II and never support a From Software title again. I do hope this is hyperbole and just people talking out of their butts, but it’s so astounding to see someone go from excited enough about a game to reserve it and sacrifice some time to help with a server stress test, to declaring the companies a bunch of imbeciles, especially over a very common network hiccup.

However, the real thoughts to be had lie below.

This was a NETWORK TEST – not a beta. Nowhere in any official sources from Namco Bandai or From Software does it say this is a gameplay or early-access beta. You didn’t get in to play the game six months before everyone else or to offer suggestions on how they might balance the gameplay. You signed up to test the servers, nothing more, nothing less. The consolation is that you got to play it early, but having fun was not the point. That giant wall of text you agreed to but didn’t read? It even said that this isn’t for entertainment or balancing purposes, it’s for testing their network and catching any network-related bugs.

And when has Dark Souls ever been about entertainment? It’s a white-knuckled fear of death the whole way through

Does it suck that it was at an ungodly hour for us? Yeah, it totally does. But that doesn’t give people the right to bitch about how “I have work in the morning! Thanks for wasting my time!” You chose to stay up late for it. If that was going to be such a problem, maybe you should have been a more responsible person and thought about what was more important: a good night’s rest, or a three-hour test time.

And no, people clamoring about how all 90,000 people who got the chance to test were unable to play – Europe still got through to play, as well as Japan. The Americas were left out, but that does not comprise the whole of the 90,000 players with access to the test. It’s an exaggeration to the extreme.

People saying they deserve some sort of recompense like a free game? Yeah, sure, for doing nothing but choosing to offer your time and services, of playing a game for free, in order to test their network. They also didn’t ask you to do this, you chose to.

I’m certainly disappointed that I didn’t get to help test the servers in any greater capacity, but hey, dem’s the breaks. I’m happy they’re rescheduling, and I do hope it’s at a reasonable hour this time. I could just as easily wait until March to play the full game, which, oddly enough, will have better servers because of this test tonight! It’s way better for this to happen now, than on launch day.

However, the amount of bitching about something you were given a free opportunity and chose to be a part of is pretty saddening, it’s near on Mass Effect 3– or DmC: Devil May Cry-levels of being utterly disappointed in gaming communities. When did the loud majority turn into such entitled pricks…? I swear it didn’t always used to be like that. Have many gamers succumbed to the idea that the “customer is always right,” even though we’re usually not, because we know nothing of the processes that a developer has to go through to release their product?

Tl;dr? This wasn’t a beta, it was a network test. You weren’t invited to play the game early, you were invited to help them test the servers. If your time is so precious to you, then you shouldn’t have bothered staying up anyway.

You’re all lucky that From Software is still willing to feed us, after you just bit their hand.

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