World of Warcraft Stress Test Beta

[freeborn]

Howdy all,
I think this is the first thread I've actually started here. :) If any of you are interested in joining The World of Warcraft stress test, File Planet subscribers are guaranteed acceptance and File Planet is hosting the image for download. I downloaded it yesterday at work and put it on a DVD( it is another >2 GB download). I'm unzipping now and will install it soon. The key I got for the stress test won't be active until the beta actually begins but I hope there will be a tutorial or manual or something to check out before the beta begins.

Free

[freeborn]

Well,
I installed it but the only good thing I can say is that it has DirectX 9.0c redistributable bundled with it. The program won't actually do anything until the stress test starts.


In other news, File Planet now has Tribes: Vengeance available to subscribers for its stress test beta. Hopefully it will have more to look at. :)

Free

[Mercutio]

Do you actually have to pay to beta test?

[P5-133XL]

To my knowledge it is only M$ that has that clout: discounting those that force their customer base to beta test their software.

[freeborn]

If you mean do you have to pay to use the beta, no. Many of the gaming houses seem to be partnering with GameSpy / File Planet for their beta test needs. The download and beta test is free to subscribers of GameSpy / File Planet. I joined the GameSpy founders club about a half year ago for easy access to patches and decent game servers. I have not been dissapointed. They offered Splinter Cell for download when I joined and now they have some hitpoint gimmick to earn Prince of Persia Sands of Time and other games. I haven't actually read what's involved though because I suspect it involves upgrading my founder account to something more for a nominal fee. The cost for a full year of the founders club was $79 US so I went ahead. As soon as I go to a game page with Game Spy Arcade it immediately informs me of any available patches and I can go to the download pages of File Planet for mods. Lately they have had game publishers offer beta tests to their subscribers so I find it all to the good. The theory behind these stress tests is to learn the real world limits of their servers and they state upfront that performance may seem degraded while they tune and learn where to set the limits for their servers. Anyway, I'm happy to help them learn where to set the limits and it helps me determine if I may actually want to buy these games when they make it into production.

Free