Beta?

[Ashley96xx]

I somehow got into an argument! Is this game in beta right now?? If not where can I find the launch announcement please??

thankooo!!

[NelumboWhite]

^^ Top of the page, big golden letters. They say the 'Settlers online' and then in small red text - 'Beta'

Same on the game loading page. Suggests to me that you won the argument.

[Nashius-Maximus]

Yes in the branding and even on the white load screen of the game itself.. and beta it seems to remain even after the best part of a year.

It's kinda suggests that there's no confidence in long term prospect of the game.. and yet there's retail DVDs in the shops to bring people in. I can't think of another game where you can buy into it with a high-street store purchase only to find your cash was spent on a beta release.. so strange.

Sure most PC games are released unfinished/under-tested and require serious patching and this is after all an on going development project that will see improvements and problems.. but still.. why still beta?

[theheron]

We are told that the game isn't in beta, but the hardware is . . . I understand that the german servers aren't beta nor is the american server.

A game that is in development yes, and we have been told that it would take something catestrophic for people to lose their accounts (my spelling doesn't count!)

[Ashley96xx]

Buh the hardware is beta??? That dunt make sense lol. But thut sounds like some of the things you hear on the chat that sounds like chinese whispers. it'd be nice to have a BB response cos then there are things like:

http://www.ubi.com/UK/Games/Search.aspx?plTag=webbased

which says the game is out, but if you check nuws archive for that date on this site then thur is no special announcements lol? but youd epect some rihte?

[Nashius-Maximus]

I've heard the hardware thing before in chat.. and you are right it doesn't make programming sense.. i guess you can say the project is in Beta due to hardware but I've not seen an official comment on it.

Beta normally means that it's a work in progress, playable, generally functional and stable but elements are not guaranteed to work as core elements are still being refined and tinkered with.

[Aphose]

Well,they are releasing a retail box tomorrow, in other words they have reached 1.0 and Settlers Online won't be beta anymore, noone sell beta retail.

[Baggis]

Aphose, this is the second such retail box and game is still in Beta, I hope i'm wrong but I suspect this will be in 'Beta' forever. It's not really in beta, they just say it is because it suits them. If it was truly in beta then gems etc would be free.

[mcKraken]

Aphose, this is the second such retail box and game is still in Beta, I hope i'm wrong but I suspect this will be in 'Beta' forever. It's not really in beta, they just say it is because it suits them. If it was truly in beta then gems etc would be free.
This 1000times.

The second they started to sell gems and retail versions the game got out of beta. The only reason they keep it is because its easy to deal with bug complaints and the game has not a lot to offer yet. (not many adventures, no pvp)

[Cully]

I'll keep looking but i can't find the link at the moment. The game came out of beta around Jan/ Feb this year. The servers remain in Beta, game not. We had an annnouncement in world by a BB (probably Ravel or Azariel), I just can't find the official announcement here on the forum.

[Nogbad]

Well,they are releasing a retail box tomorrow, in other words they have reached 1.0 and Settlers Online won't be beta anymore, noone sell beta retail.

Micro$oft do it all the time with Windoze. ;)

[Ashley96xx]

Bump. Can I get an employee response please?

[Whizkeyjack]

Game is beta until they announce is not and remove ze Beta from the title. Makes sense.

[Steve1077]

All the time the game is full of bugs its still beta as far as I'm concerned, but it doesn't really mean much even if they say its gone gold if the bugs are still there does it?
If its beta hardware you would think they would have it sorted after a year!

[Lovrek1983]

http://www.thesettlersonline.com/en/terms-sale

then you go to

http://ubi.com/UK/Info/Info.aspx?tagname=TermsOfUse#q14

quote from there
"BETA TESTS
UBISOFT may, entirely at its own discretion, contact you to propose that you test, evaluate or comment on one or more games and Services, game elements and/or downloadable Content before they are marketed or launched, in order to identify bugs and errors in the programs and/or improve their functioning ("Beta Tests").

If you agree to test the games and Services, you must sign a confidentiality agreement for each Beta Test and return it to UBISOFT before you are accredited and the software is supplied to you or made accessible. Your participation in the Beta Test is subject to your signing of said confidentiality agreement and these Terms. The obligation of confidentiality remains in force until UBISOFT officially distributes the games, Services and/or Test Contents (as defined below) or discloses them in any other way to the public, without this being attributable to you.

Upon receipt of the signed confidentiality agreement, UBISOFT may then provide you with a beta version of a game or games, Content, Services and related documentation and/or any other information associated therewith, and, if applicable, authorisations to access UBISOFT's websites (collectively known as the "Test Contents") for the sole purpose of allowing you to test, evaluate and/or comment on the game(s).

You must perform the Beta Test personally and allow no one else to have access to the Test Contents. Beta test accounts may in no case be transferred. You will be asked to inform UBISOFT (and only UBISOFT) of your reactions and suggestions following your experience of the Test Contents in the Beta Test. All comments, feedback, suggestions, ideas, criticisms and other data (collectively referred to as the "Comments") passed on, disclosed or offered to UBISOFT in the course of the Beta Tests, or more generally in the course of use of the Services, will be the exclusive property of UBISOFT. You therefore undertake not to exploit or publish your Comments or make them accessible by any means or process to any outside party other than UBISOFT. You acknowledge that, unless prohibited from doing so under the applicable legislation, UBISOFT may use, sell, promote and exploit the Comments in any way, without restriction and without compensation to you.

You agree and accept that the Test Contents which are supplied to you are highly confidential and/or exclusive information belonging to UBISOFT. You acknowledge that the beta versions of games and all other Test Contents made available to you by UBISOFT for Beta Tests have not yet been officially rated and you must make sure that no Test Content can be made available to or accessed by minors.

You acknowledge that UBISOFT may protect certain Test Contents by incorporating technical protection measures in them to prevent any unlawful reproduction or modification of the Test Contents. In particular, each Test Content is addressed to you by name and UBISOFT may use digital tattooing (watermarking) processes to identify any violation of these provisions concerning Beta Tests.

Beta versions of games and more generally any Test Contents are supplied to you as is and according to availability without any explicit or implicit guarantee of any kind. You play on a beta version at your own risk. You accept that (i) the Test Contents may include known or unknown bugs and that (ii) the games and/or other Test Contents may be available only on subscription once the beta phase is completed or at any other time subsequently. You acknowledge that UBISOFT is not obliged to allow you to play free of charge for any period, nor even to authorise you to access these Test Contents. You also accept that all your data, particularly any bonuses, points, Credits, states of progress and statuses attained in the course of the game may be erased and/or reset at any time. In this case, your progress and your data will be erased and you will return to the initial status.

You agree that violation of your obligations under this section would cause UBISOFT irreparable damage and that UBISOFT would be entitled to take any action to prevent any breach or risk of a breach of your obligations or to obtain compensation for the damage it has incurred, without prejudice to the right to terminate your Account in accordance with section 16 below
At the end of the Beta Test period, or at any time when UBISOFT asks you to do so, you undertake to return immediately all Test Contents received from UBISOFT.

Nothing in these Terms may be interpreted as giving you any right or privilege regarding the Test Contents. All of the Terms apply to the use you make of the games during the beta test phase."

im not a legal person but if oyu read whole Terms of service for settlers and ubisoft.... you notis a sharp shift in "beta testing" to "beta version" and in this text tehy are mostly considered the same..... anyway im not a legal person... took me 10 min to google this and to read it....

Hope it helped answer your question.....

[Sinister-King]

Hello Ashley96xx

The Settlers Online EU servers are indeed beta :).

No official date has been released on when the game will exit this stage.

Enjoy,
Sinister-King

[ambandil]

|What they say online/on site and what they actually do are two different things. In all reality they bhave like the game is released etc so from a legal point of view it will be substance over form in court which means they wont be able to hide behind the beta tag for very long if someone actually went through the effort to take em to court

Why someone would bother - would be beyond me though- unless they pull the plug on the game very soon and someone is holding the bag of unspent gems :P