Ok I don’t really get it but I don’t think Funcom is doing a great job at the moment.

Since a few days the game is live and publicly available. Now … I would really like to try out the game as it looks promising, but I really want to experience this myself for a couple of days to be sure my investment is worth it.
They don’t have a trial version, I can understand that, no problem as they have a buddy invite program. I have few friends playing AoC and asked if they could share me a key. In the mean while I download the client (about 12GB!!). Now I just got word from my buddies: “Sorry mate, the server gives me this in reply:The buddy key program will open as soon as server capacity allows. Please check back later.
I immediatly hit the Funcom forums for some more info and all I read was complaints. Collectors edition that promisis 5 extra codes but are not included, Age of Conan experiences startup troubles, the game is not actually finished, … hmmm wonder why they did go live then!

Common Funcom, let’s be serious, for a company that announces it’s new mmorpg as worlds biggest beta program:

Durham, USA – May 13, 2008 – Funcom and Eidos are proud to confirm some of the impressive figures powering the Age of Conan launch, and the two companies are happy to reveal that the Age of Conan Beta has passed 1 million sign-ups! As one of the most anticipated MMO’s ever, the 1 million mark confirms the amazing interest in the game.

“Funcom has not been able to find any higher beta numbers for MMOs in the western world,” said Morten Larssen, VP of Funcom Sales and Marketing. “We believe it represents the largest ever beta sign-up figure in the history of the genre.”

Having the largest beta program and not being ready for the launch? C’mon. On top of this, if there’s no capacity for buddies (and probably potential players) why should I believe the servers will be ready to take on a payed account? Or do I have to pay now and wait a month before I can get in to?

I know, I’ve could’ve joined the beta program, but why join the beta program if you know you won’t have the time to contribute and bughunt (as that’s what the beta is for). And I tried to get into the early joiners program but had no luck at that.
Well … guess the only solution is buying the game. So let’s head of to the www.ageofconan.com site, click the ‘buy now’ button. Have to click the ‘buy from a retailer’ before I can continue (like wtf?, there’s no other possibility and in the mean while I have all sorts of music and speech mixed through each other aaaaarghhh) and then I look for an appropriate online store, as Belgium is not listed (!). So I guess it will be ‘internation’ and I choose the Funcom Online shop. Ok let’s see … Dreamfall, Dreamfall Limited edition … NO I want AoC … Anarchy online (wasn’t that made free btw?), The Longest Journey, The Longest Journey Soundtrack. What? There’s no AoC on there????

So my only option is going to the store (and it’s raining cats and dogs for the moment) and pay for media I don’t need just to be able to play a game, that’s not finished and that isn’t capable of taking extra accounts as the servers are not ready for it. I don’t even want to go into the pricing issue which ranges from 15€ to 40€ per month depending in what country you live!

You know what … I’ll stick to Eve Online, and maybe … just maybe I’ll try this procedure again in a few years from now.

Last week I ordered a XBOX 360 PRO with 3 games (Viva Pinata, Forza2 and Mass Effect (!)) at Komplett.be
Most of my previous orders there were pretty ok (except for my TomTom, but that was the transport companies fault). I was surprised when 2 days later my XBOX already arrived.
I couldn’t wait to get back from Antwerp to check out my new gaming/media platform. As soon as I opened the box I noticed something wasn’t right … I was missing a HDMI port on my XBOX. Conclusion: this is no XBOX 360 but a XBOX 360 PREMIUM. A quick look at the manufacturing date … oct 2006!!! In terms of technology you can even call this ‘old’ if you ask me. XBOX 360 PRO’s with HDMI came in production on august 2007 (yes I did some homework).

I quickly opened my mail and started a mail to Komplett. I wrote them my situation and asked what I could they would do about it, as I really wanted a XBOX PRO as promoted on their webshop, for the price stated with the games included!
The day after I got a small mail back “Sir, we didn’t say on our website the product has a HDMI port. But if you want you can send in a RMA request and if the product is still in new state you will be refunded”.

Answer: “I’m sorry, but the website didn’t say there was ‘NO’ HDMI port, which you can expect on a ‘new’ XBOX, certainly if it’s sold as a PRO-system. And no I don’t want my money back, I want a XBOX 360 PRO or some kind of compensation for the mistake”.

Their answer: ” Sir … you didn’t tell us if the system is still as new and if you want to file a RMA-request”.
(OMG … they are really avoiding the issue here)

My answer: “The system is still as new, ignoring the opened box, that was already opened by your side already, to add ‘Mass Effect’ to the box (this addition was probably to cover up the old system they wanted to get rid off) and no I don’t want to file a RMA if that means refunding my purchase!”

Their answer: “Your request has been sent to technical support, on approval you will be contacted”.

Today I received a mail from tech-support: “Dear sir, your RMA request has been approved. You can send us back the product with all accessories and after testing on our side you will be refunded”.

GRMBLLll ayyyieeeeee I think they have to much computer-ventilator dust in their eye or something … hell I don’t know, but this isn’t the way I like to be treated as customer.
Normally I’m not all that difficult and would not post anything like this but …

* Not listening to the customer
* Failing to see and admit the error
* Letting me pay for transport for their mistakes
* Not coming up with a proper solution

makes me want to shout ” BAD SUPPORT KOMPLETT … BAD!!!!! “.
Well I guess Komplett orders will be just in worst case scenarios from now on … I’ll find some other supplier for the other orders.
And hell no, I’m not going to RMA that box!!!!

Eve-Online is one of the only games I still play on a regular base … and now I’m kinda excited for what’s to come. The all new Eve-Online expansion is set for December 5th 2007. This is one of their biggest expansions as it features a whole new graphics engine. Spectacular effects and a lot of bling bling will fill the game. It will be a huge advancement, as you can see for yourself:

[QUICKTIME http://blog.amidala.be/vids/trinity.mov 420 240]

People who have me on their MSN list know I like using quotes and messages o/t day in my msn-nickname.
Today I’m going to put the text “Two more day and then … ”
I wonder how many curious people will ask me “what will happen then????”. It will be a simple and clear answer “then it’s Saturday”. I’m enjoy it already (yeah really :p)

CCP made my day. They have released the client for Mac and Linux. I don’t know when it has been released and the fact that they haven’t announced it yet scares me a bit. On the other hand it’s an official download so I guess it’s meant to be quite stable. I haven’t had the chance to test the Linux client, but I downloaded the Mac client right away and it worked like a charm. It’s fast (same speeds as on windows), the starmap works, there’s sound … and I don’t have to emulate or change to windows any more. Thumbs up for CCP … got to make another patrol run now! Dearaek out!

Update: announcements have been made: patch update - news update (you have to be logged in for this one)

System requirements:

Cedega:

Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Ubuntu 7+, Suse 10+, Linspire 6
CPU: CPU speed equal to or greater than 1.8 GHz Centrino
RAM: 1024 MB
HD space: 6 GB
Video: NVidia 6600, ATI is not supported.

Recommended system configuration for running EVE Online:
OS: Ubuntu 7+, Suse 10+, Linspire 6
CPU: 2 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
HD space: 6 GB
Video: Nvidia 7600 or later, ATI is not supported.

Cider:

Minimal system requirements
OS: OS X 10.4.9 or later.
CPU: Intel based computer with CPU speed equal or greater than 1.8 GHz , the client does not run on a PPC.
Video: ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300
RAM: 1024 MB or more
HD space: 6 GB

Recommended system configuration for running EVE Online:
OS: OS X 10.4.9 or later
CPU: Intel based CPU 2 GHz or better, the client does not run on a PPC.
Video: ATI X1900 or Nvidia 7600
RAM: 2 GB
HD space: 6 GB

Today CCP Games and TransGaming Partner announce to Bring EVE Online to new platforms, being Linux and Mac. By the end of this year it should be possible to play Eve on a Mac, finally!
On linux it was already possible through Cedega or a well configured WINE, but now nothing extra will be needed.

The press release:

Reykjavík, Iceland, Toronto, Canada – September 11, 2007 – CCP Games, one of the world’s largest independent game developers, today announced a partnership with TransGaming Inc. (TSX-V: TNG) , a leading developer of software portability products for the electronic entertainment industry. The strategic relationship will enable CCP to deliver its popular massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), EVE Online, with Linux and Macintosh platforms later this year.

TransGaming provides technology and expertise to deploy games across a range of platforms without the need for redevelopment and still maintaining the high quality of gameplay and allowing users of different platforms to play in the same perpetual online universe. As a result of this partnership, CCP will be able to expand the reach of its Sci-fi MMOG to new groups around the world.

As an element of the partnership, EVE Online and TransGaming will share quality assurance as well as technical support responsibilities but TransGaming will lead partnership and OEM opportunities for the Linux version of EVE Online. The two companies will work hand-in-hand to ensure all releases go smoothly, creating a transparent integration of the original EVE Online code with each platform.

TransGaming first introduced Linux users to EVE Online through Cedega, a software product that allows Windows games to run on the Linux operating system completely transparently and seamlessly. It was the popularity of this solution that indicated the strong demand for further integration between CCP Games and TransGaming. Later this year, EVE Online will be released for Linux with Cedega directly integrated into the game and on Mac through TransGaming’s Cider portability engine.

“We’re pleased to extend our relationship with TransGaming, as the company’s expertise allows us to deliver the most innovative MMOG to more platforms,” said Halldor Fannar, CTO of CCP Games. “By integrating TransGaming’s excellent technology, we are able to keep our laser-focus on evolving EVE Online, while simultaneously expanding the EVE universe to even more players.”

“EVE Online has always ranked highly with our Linux users and there is significant demand for it among other platforms, including the rapidly growing Mac base,” said Vikas Gupta, CEO of TransGaming Technologies. “As EVE takes place within a single-server persistent universe, it’s vital that the game is identical in every way across different platforms. This challenge is what makes the partnership with CCP both important and rewarding.”

EVE Online is available for download now at www.eve-online.com.

transposia, publisher of some nice kiddy games like Pajama Sam, Freddie Fish, … has always been one of my favourite publisher for this category of software. I was even more surprised when I noticed the text on the cd’s: “Windows & Macintosh CD-Rom”. Wow nice … now my kids can play their favourite games even on the mac … pause … NOT!!!
Mac is supported only up to version 8.x, for the later versions you need to install a patch before it will work.
Ok, now I could live with this solutions , except … the patch doesn’t work for version 10.3 and up. How lame is that! And the following pseudo solution is even more adorable!

“Opm: Deze patch werkt op alle Mac OS 9 systemen en op alle Mac OS 10.0 (Cheetah), Mac OS 10.1 (Puma) en Mac OS 10.2 (Jaguar) systemen. Jammer genoeg werkt deze patch niet meer vanaf het besturingssysteem Mac OS 10.3 (Panther), dus ook niet op Mac Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) en Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard) systemen. De enige oplossing om één van bovenstaande spelletjes op zo’n systeem te laten werken is om een dual boot op te zetten met een Mac OS waar het spelletje wél op draait.”

Translated this says: “if you want to play on a 10.3 or higher system you should install a dual boot system, with a MAC OS that does support the version”. Hahaha, yeah right … thanks very much transposia …you just lost 3 points and a capital!

I just received this (shocking?) press release:

PERSBERICHT

08/06/07: Think-Media lanceert dit najaar nieuw gamemagazine.

Think-Media brengt in september via haar dochteronderneming De Vrije Pers, uitgever van P-magazine, Ché en Maxim en hiermee onbetwist marktleider in mannenbladen, een gloednieuw gamemagazine op de markt.

De gamesector groeit uit tot een mature markt nu steeds meer gezinnen één of zelfs meerdere spelcomputers in huis hebben, de nieuwe next generation-spelconsoles steeds meer multimediafuncties omvatten en het online gamen spectaculair stijgt.

Het multiplatform gamemagazine richt zich op de brede groep van entertainment enthusiasts tussen 15 en 45 jaar die zowel occasioneel als fanatiek geïnteresseerd zijn in de wereld van videogames en de bijhorende high definition lifestyle.

Het magazine en de bijhorende gamesite zullen op een objectieve en overzichtelijke manier nieuwe games en randproducten bespreken. Tevens zullen alle facetten van het online gamen uitgebreid aan bod komen.

De redactie staat onder leiding van Bart Cop die reeds meer dan 15 jaar professioneel actief is als gamereporter.

Het magazine verschijnt maandelijks vanaf september met twaalf nummers per jaar; de uitgebreide gamesite die gelijktijdig gelanceerd wordt omvat enkele unieke luiken.

Think-Media is genoteerd op Euronext Brussel. Het bedrijf is actief op het gebied van buitenreclame, uitgever van magazines (P-magazine, Ché en Maxim), radio (Cool FM) en Online Media (Clint.be).

This basically says there’s a new gamers magazine coming up for the dutch speaking people, from the same company that publishes P-magazine, Ché and Maxim. The chief editor will be Bart Cop, which isn’t exactly an unknow person in the game industry. According to the press release, the target audiency will be the casual and fanatic gamer aged 15 to 45. The start of this monthly magazine is planned somewhere round the end of the year and will be released together with a website.

I’m curious what it will contain and if this is going to create new possibilities for gaming Belgium.

Source: http://games.shizzle.be/ 

The word has been out for some time now (2 weeks or so), but I couldn’t help myself posting this great news anyway. Blizzard is developing a new RTS game and not just ‘a’ RTS game. Within a few month we will be playing ‘StarCraft II’, in the good old Blizzard style. Starcraft was initially released in 1998, and now almost ten years later it’s still being played in competition and on LAN-parties (talking about re-playability). I already impressed with what they show us on the official homepage: www.starcraft2.com

I wonder what happened to ‘StarCraft Ghost’, that’s been on indefinite hold since March 2006! Anyway, I can’t wait to pick up the side of the ‘Zerg’ again … now where is that StarCraft cd so I can start practicing!

A few days ago I installed Battlefield 2142 again. Playing on one of my computers went without problems. However, when I installed the same game on my home-comp I was kicked out of the game every 5 minutes or so. Reason: ‘PUNKBUSTER’ … no further information. Different sites suggested that I should uninstall punkbuster, reinstall, blablabla … in short: nothing helped. I didn’t search any further and stopped playing BF2142 for that day (well ok, not playing …).

Yesterday I installed good ol’Battlefield 2, as looking at some pictures did me think about hours and hours of pure action and fun. Five minutes later … blam … kicked by punkbuster. Reason: ‘PUNKBUSTER …. insufficient O/S rights” !!!!! Being an administrator on the machine apparently isn’t enough for playing the game. In other words, it’s again Vista’s UAC who’s giving me a headache (and that’s not the first time). Cause this is my home-computer I really need UAC, so the only option for me is every-time I want to play the game, execute it with run_as administrator. Or play on my other computer of course (which has a faster GPU as well).