So Neverwinter, the MMO, not the awesome D&D game, just entered open beta yesterday. I'm not a big MMORPG player but since I love the setting of Faerun I decided to check this game out. I've played for like 2 hours and it seems like your standard MMORPG.

Anyway once I was done with the character creation I attempted to play the game and I had to wait in queue. Since I didn't spend a single cent on the game yet I didn't really have a problem with it and even if I had I'm still a patient guy and I understand that the game is F2P and in open beta so a lot of people will be trying to play it. But who knows, maybe I'd be just pissed as hell if I had. Anyway the people did not take the waiting well. And the waiting can take quite a while, I've waited for around 40 minutes or so with some people saying that they've waited for hours.

The Neverwinter Queue thread

The people who are complaining about the queue are the guardians who payed 60$ for the guardian pack. They're complaining because the people who bought the Heroes of the North pack for 200$ get priority when waiting in queue. The guardian pack has nothing in it for the priority in queue.

The guardians proceeded to complain about everything from freeloaders such as myself to the people who payed 200$ and get a queue priority.

So again, are these valid complaints? Guardians obviously payed for the game and I think they should get to wait less than those who didn't pay a dime, and yet the guardian pack offered nothing that would make them wait less.

And seriously, give that queue thread a read. It exploded from like 7 pages yesterday evening to now where it has 170+ pages.

Updated with a video made by yours truly.

Fake betas where money is spent are always messy, I would probably be pissed off too, which is why I never spend money on a game that is not an actual retail release.

Good thing you posted this cause Ive been wanting to try this game and now I can, is the combat system interesting? I hear good things about it.

I think it's a valid complaint that not all of the paying players get a higher priority than the freeloaders, but really 1) they know full well what privileges their $60 will get and they paid for it anyway and 2) it won't matter in 2 or 3 days when player influx settles. We'll all forget about this and then it will probably happen again at launch and it still won't matter then. If this happens when the server merge happens, on the other hand...

@rattle618: Well I've only played the game for 2 hours and it seems pretty good, but you might wanna check this thread. Also with the queue and the lag (which apparently everyone starts to experience) it might be better to way a couple of days while they fix all of that good "open beta" jank.

Is this the game handing out the cool cups with the girls wearing tight black t shirts at PAX East? Because I avoided that game due to the jaded, look on the faces on the presenters. Like they couldn't have been anywhere worse.

I think that the fact that there won't be a character wipe once this beta is over has basically led people to completely treat this game as if it had already been officially released.

The people complaining would do well to remember that it's only a beta, and that probably only once a full of the game is released should they evaluate whether or not they're having an experience worth their money.

That whole "freeloaders" thing also sounds like elitist bullshit.

Currency symbols always go ahead of the amount

Did the 60 dollar tier suggest, promise or otherwise incentivize players by offering them priority over free players? Then their claims have no validity and they've purchased something they did not want.

Transactions are not a place where 'I assumed' or 'it should come with' should ever be used. The only valid statements in a transaction are 'I know' and 'it does come with'.

This would be like purchasing a car and then after the money changes hands, telling the dealer that the car 'should be' a convertible.

I have to think two things are at play; a young medium (digital transactions) and a young customer base that don't have any practical experience.

I wanted a keyboard that would work with my iPhone. I saw one and almost bought it, but then instead of buying it, I did about a half hour of research. I ultimately bought a different keyboard, but it met my needs. These guardian folk would purchase the original keyboard and then caterwaul when it doesn't work the way they expected it to.

I think it might be a valid complaint if the queuing is interfering with general performance. If "scenarios" require a certain class-spec that aren't getting through the queue fast enough then parties break down and nothing gets accomplished.

So that is the question, once in game is the queuing causing problems? The issue some are forgetting is that a queue of any time is a work around for other technical problems. The problem might be instead that some group is getting priority queuing but that the queue has to exist at all.

@extomar: As far as I know, no. You only wait through the queue to get into the game, basically log in with a character. Once in, there are absolutely no queues if that's what you're asking. Although there is some lag for now.

@brodehouse: Maybe You're right but it's still 60 bucks. Cryptic should have put in a less queue time feature in the guardian pack. Heroes of the North (founders) > Guardians > F2P players. And then everyone would bitch about the queue being in existence :D

@snail: It is elitist but when you pay money for a F2P game, as opposed to someone who didn't, you feel...well, maybe entitled isn't the right word but something similar to it especially considering that you didn't actually have to pay for the game.

The game just released, server queues should be expected, laugh at these people and get on with your life.

@TheDudeOfGaming

I agree that if I were to spend 60 dollars on it I would want a priority feature... But that's not what's on offer. So I will not buy it. What a person would want for X dollars is a completely different concept from what something 'should have'. You could say any game 'should have' been better and remain both correct and incorrect in perpetuity, I forget the name of that concept, but it's in play here. Non-falsifiable statement?

Also even if it was included... How long are queues legitimately going to be a thing?

@brodehouse: It's anyone's guess. Depends on how quickly Cryptic solves the queue issues/brings in new servers. As of now the waiting really isn't that bad and the launch of Neverwinter is by far not the worst ever. Diablo 3 and the new Sim City had far worse launches (from what I've seen). I guess people just like to complain, but if they spent money on a service and are not satisfied I guess they have that right.

Hopefully this whole queue thing will be a thing of the past in the next couple of days.

If you paid $60 then you should get priority over the guys who are playing for free. If it was made clear beforehand that the $60 isn't going to get them this, then they can't really complain because they knew beforehand.

In any case, the guys who paid $60 absolutely shouldn't get placed on equal ground with the guys who paid $200. That doesn't even make sense.

It's a beta, this stuff happens in a beta. I can understand the disappointment of people who had paid money being on the same footing as people who are ftp, but they also shouldn't be on the same level as the people who dropped 200 either. So I don't know what Cryptic could, or should do. A staggered queuing priority? If they didn't promise that, though, why should they do it besides good will? I don't know. Seems way too early to get upset.

Besides anyone who has dealt with Cryptic/Perfect World would know to expect issues. Whenever they drop a new, big thing on Star Trek Online, like a new episode or an event goes live, you go from having no issues logging in to having to queue, and for a very long time as well. I usually just skip the first day of all events on STO just to avoid the rush of people coming back and making it impossible, or near impossible, to get into the game. Oh, and then the lag once you get into the game on those days... Ugh.

So yeah, I am not surprised at all but if it's a beta then it seems bit early to complain at this point. Complain when this stuff happens on the launch week/weekend, not during a beta when they are trying to figure out what works and what doesn't.

As I understand it queue privileges were not part of the deal for "guardians" in the first place, so they are doubly wrong to complain. I say doubly because this is a beta, not the final version of the product they paid for.

@snail: When has basic logic and the end user honoring the agreement with the company they made when they paid for services ever stopped people from shouting on forums? I can understand people wanting to skip ques since they paid, but that's clearly the $200 crazy-town package.

My stance: If you pay for something that is Free-To-Play then benefits need to flow from features offered in game (mounts, xp boost, gear). Something like a "priority queue" isn't bad but it should be frowned upon because an MMO thrives on allowing as many people to interact in common areas as possible where just shuffling the queue into a different order doesn't help or hurt.

It's my understanding that you can buy a mount or a wedding dress in this game for 40 real life dollars. If that's the case, it should come as no surprise to us that the developers are getting people less than their money is worth in other ways, also.

That's nothing there are people playing Path of Exile who payed a 1000 bucks to become diamond supporters and get to design unique items in the game. Granted I'm not sure if that's all they get but to be fair the price is so high because they wanted to support the developer mostly.

@veektarius: Yeah the mount is a Heavy Worg...kind of looks like a huge wolf so I'd understand paying 40$ or 4000 zen for it...if you've got a huge overflow of money. But that 40$ dress is insane.

Sure, you should get priority in the queue if that was a feature you payed for. If it wasn't, you shouldn't.

Beta just opened on an mmorpg. Complaints invalid for ANYTHING! It's a beta. How about we go back to the wow launch or anarchy online or something, those were times to complain.