[QUOTE="sk8ter33157"][QUOTE="justforlotr2004"]

[QUOTE="hirushubi2"]They will probably (and hopefully) extend the beta.justforlotr2004

Nope the beta isnt for our enjoyment. We may get to try stuff out and have fun but the overall goal isnt about you having fun for a long period of time, its about them getting the data they need and the shutting it down and getting to work on what the data gave them. 3 weeks for them is already almost too long for them.

3 weeks is too long for a beta? Yah, sure. Shadowrun lasted over 3 months and so did numerous other betas. It is clear that Bungie has the game pretty much polished and intends for it to be a sort of "demo" that they could benefit from. Why else make a contest out of it?

They are just mining for data, and once they get that data there is no purpose to keep the beta up because it just wastes manpower and time that they could be putting towards the final product.  What you fail to realise is this isnt just a "demo" its a beta for testing, so if a problem acures during that time they dont have any obligation to extend that time unless they need it.  Just be greatful you will even get to test the game before its out because they could of just done a mass internal beta and not let any of us random guys in.

  Both views are essentialy correct. They were nice enough to let us play when they could have done internal testing. They have to pay testers tho. Why pay somone to do a job when you have millions of people begging to do it for free... to PAY to do the job even. Remember what happened when Tom Sawyer was told to whitewash the fence... he tricked somone else into doing his job for him and got a free apple out of the deal. (if i remember correctly.. my american lit classes were a long tima ago) the point is: we all win. The fans are just dissapointed in thier lack of thoroughness after promising a specific date/time for somthing we all dearly want. Dont expect me to feel gratefull for being unpaid market research tester #347b. Expect me to be gratefull that im playing a great game. And to be clear... the real issue here isnt the lack of thoroughness in makig a great game its lack of thouroghness in making sure its delivered propperly... with all the work that went into the beta its frustrating that noone bothered to make sure we would be able to d/l it when the time came.

Hahaha.  I can't wait until all these kids get into the real world and find out that not everything works so smoothly.  I work in IT and we are in the middle of an email migration from one mail system to another.  Its a huge project, lots of people involved, over a year in planning, and we still run into problems every day.  IT is not a perfect world people.  Plus its just a game and a BETA at that.  BETA implies there will be issues.  So I find all the crying in this thread to be rather humorous.  At least it puts a smile on my face while I take a break from the email issues.  8)wingman15

 But workin in IT even you must be baffled that with the planning that SHOULD go into a project like this, somthing as simple as making sure the button to access the product is working properly. The problem isnt the beta itsself, its the access to it. somone was asleep on the job there. You obviously take your job seriously and know what you are doing. Do us all a favor and apply for the poor sap's job that messed this all up. He is sooo fired. PLEASE !!!