As dais points out, the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars beta is finally upon us! Sadly, it's another one of those FilePlanet beta things, so it's not really that cool. The official announcement includes more details if you want to take part in the beta.

Also sadly, Splash Damage have also announced that Quake Wars will have in-game ads:

To help cover this level of on-going support without passing the costs on to the gamer, ETQW will feature appropriate advertisements in select locations of our levels. The ads aren't intrusive and you won't have to interact with them; they'll just be part of the normal environment. In fact, there are some places it's quite odd not to have an advertisement - the sides of container trucks, for example. Great care is being taken to ensure that all our ads are appropriate for the game world and we have absolute approval rights in this area. If it's not appropriate or it's distracting, it won't go in.

Now, my memory is a little fuzzy from years of hardcore game playing and not enough natural light, but I don't recall previous games that had massive levels of post-purchase support requiring ads to survive - especially id titles, where the philosophy has always seemed to always be "sell once and build on the community". While I appreciate that PC games are not the massive revenue drivers that console games are, I must confess my disappointment.

On the plus side, there's a lot of local Australian servers (for like, the first time ever for one of these betas) on GameArena and Internode so everyone will be able to enjoy decent pings.

i thought it was illegal in aus to have in-game advertising? bf2142 wasnt allowed to do it..

The Australian version of 2142 however lacks the Dynamic Advertising feature as it is believed to be illegal under the Australian Spyware Act.

(source: wikipedia)

Would you really notice ads in the game when you're busy shooting other players? I wouldn't mind seeing like a massive neon Coke sign that could be shot at showering the nearby area in sparks.

Yeh, someone in the office thought that as well but then I think we determined that BF2142 did in fact have in-game advertising? I'm not sure. Anyone play BF2142?

Also, as far as I can see, the "Spyware Act" isn't an Act yet, it's just a Bill

Never played B2142 ... seriously post war (ww2) is the way to go ... none of this future s***e!

i played bf2142 heavily when if first came out (cos i'm a big lamer), and it doesnt have any ads. it has the billboards where the ads would be on the overseas versions, but on ours it just has relevant propaganda posters like 'join the pac' etc..

I think it was an aussie guy that started the whole in game advertising thing too.. the irony :)

I need a better PC so I blow some nubs away on these new games.

very exciting about the beta

if the ads are just backgrounds in the game, no dramas at all

dont really mind ads. sometimes it can even add to the immersion.

dont really mind ads. sometimes it can even add to the immersion.

yep nothing more immersive than fighting a futuristic battle under the neon glow of a lynx deodorant billboard.

Strogg sweat too.

I find it amusing that when EA announced there was ads in BF2142 everyone was up in arms and jumping on the "I hate EA" bandwagon, but when its in an id game people are fine with it.

I got no problem with ads if they fit into the game. When I was playing through rainbowsix vegas they had ads in appropriate spots like bus stops and etc.

Also when do free file planet users get the chance to nab a key>?

yep nothing more immersive than fighting a futuristic battle under the neon glow of a lynx deodorant billboard.

i wasnt talking about this game in particular.

yep nothing more immersive than fighting a futuristic battle under the neon glow of a lynx deodorant billboard.

Yeah, except the fact that Splash Damage have already come out and said they have final approval over all adds and won't add anything that spoils the immersion.

Seriously, can we all get over the adds? It's really _not_ a big deal as far as this game is concerned.

The beta seems to be a pretty good preview of the game and I've been enjoying it more and more every round I play. Learning the map and tactics definitely improves the experience.

Seriously, can we all get over the adds?

I wouldn't mind ads as long as they only kick in 2-3 years after release, when it *actually* becomes a matter of "ongoing support". Sort of like what CS is doing at the moment.

Any ads coming out at release time would be very disappointing.

last edited by trog at 14:52:39 21/Jun/07

Has anyone else had a game yet?

if the ads really do add to the immersiveness, who really gives a s***? i mean, if they just had fake ads in their place, what difference would it make?

its cooler to shoot a coke machine

if the ads really do add to the immersiveness, who really gives a s***? i mean, if they just had fake ads in their place, what difference would it make?

Well one way they're using my network bandwidth and cpu power to deliver ads they're making money off, and one way they're just putting in neat entertaining ad content (a la GTA series).

You should also take note that if you're on a metered broadband plan, the ads will be coming from a third party server. If they're "rich media" ads (ie, movies, animated frames, etc) that bandwidth won't come from your unmetered ISPs game servers.

Also, I dispute the fact that a game set in the future can have ads from today and have it add to the "immersiveness". I think it would do the exact opposite.

Also, this is clearly targeted at the online community. They're making money off the hard work of server admins who have to run the servers and manage their communities.

Also, what happens if the ad system is down? Will that mean I can't play? I assume not, but you've all had problems with websites (especially this one :) when ad servers are broken and it causes performance/stability issues with the rest of the service.

It's still hugely better than going down the WoW path and charging you $10 a month or whatever.

They're making money off the hard work of server admins who have to run the servers

It's not like they're running any actual game servers themselves, right? Just running the authentication and master servers? And releasing patches for content and fixes that should have been part of the game out of the box.

I'm sure some software-dev guy would come in and say it's impossible to make a bugfree application, but what are we paying $90 for again?

I don't mind ads as long as they dont pop up and animate in front of the dudes trying to shoot at me. :)

The Adds method would be much better if the Server admins were in control of what adds go in, if they so choose. The add companies should approach the server admins and revenue should goto them. That way we get better/more servers :D

It isnt that different to virtually 100% of websites on the internet today. Most have ads. You are paying for the game, the ongoing stat service and whatever other ongoing aspects of the game that require funding... its better than paying to play.

Bleh gg, I guess I'll wait for a thread where people actually want to discuss their experience with the _game_ and not whinge about in-game ads.

Why people are getting so hung up by such miniscule advertising I'm just not getting. Particularly term - basically saying the game can f*** off if it has adds. huh? You realise the websites you run have adds right? Sure, some are free services, but what about Games Shop, BigPond music?

Hell, Splash Damage's last game _was_ free, and didn't have adds.

I hate intrusive advertising - it's one of the reasons I hardly watch free to air TV anymore and as you said SD have clearly stated that this is non-intrusive, here's the rest of the quote:

The company providing the ad system does not and will not store any personal information or data that otherwise can be used to identify you. All they track is if and how long you look at the advertisements.

Now can we just start playing the game?

last edited by Dan at 19:35:40 21/Jun/07

Now can we just start playing the game?

Edit: signing up for a month 8 bucks may as well. That 8 dollars will turn into 2 beers on saturday night anyway :P


last edited by ctd at 19:54:12 21/Jun/07

You realise the websites you run have adds right? Sure, some are free services

That's the point, most are free so they are welcome to do whatever they like in terms of ads to recover the costs of hosting. If the ads are intrusive and mess around with my browser I'll Adblock them* in a heartbeat.

but what about Games Shop, BigPond music?

That's just wrong, for a site you purchase from. Doesn't mean it should be the norm.

Back to the topic: if there are ads from Day 0, I'd expect the boxed game to be cheaper. If not then it's nothing more than a money grab. Because what the hell are you paying for then when you buy the game?

"Ongoing support"? Give me a break. Come back with that excuse when you're actually running the game servers (i'm directing this at the developer) or after a couple of years when releasing patches can be justified as "ongoing".

..as soon as the term 'ad' was used..this thread was never going to be about the actual gameplay.

Considering 2/3 of the opening post was about ads, you'd sort of expect that :)

(* = of course this forum is on my whitelist :P)

last edited by parabol at 02:47:06 22/Jun/07

Don't worry, the next step is for us to keep paying for all our multiplayer enabled titles!

Publisher "Make an MMO"
Developer "No"
Publisher "OK, well make a multiplayer game with some kind of additional revenue stream - look at the loot WOW is bringing in!"

but what about Games Shop, BigPond music?

You're not made to listen to ads when you play the music you buy, after you've already bought it

Anyway, I am looking forward to playing the beta this weekend if Activision ever send me one of the keys they promised me. Then I can actually have feedback about the game.

the more I play it, the more i'm liking it. apart for the massive dicks lag I get it owns. rambo strogg medic ftw!

Anyone know what time this second release of keys happens? I came home for lunch hoping it would be sweet :(

today buts its subscriber only

lol, so I hit up this page http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/quakewars/static/temp_closed.aspx and now I find the second day is closed. Where the f*** do you click to get a key?

when keys are available theres a clicky where it says distrubuted. get onto the site in the morning. keys should be availabe then. i tried to get one with my ign forum acoc*** but couldnt because im not a paying subscriber :(




last edited by ravn0s at 14:36:37 22/Jun/07

Yeah well I paid my 8 bucks yesterday! Damnit, I wanted to have a nice friday night playing.

that sucks. just get on tomorrow morning and you should be able to get one.

i got told only last 2 days were for the free subscribers... any conformation??

also how quickly are they going? like within a minute? an hour?

within a couple of hours i think.

im still working out all the classes etc, but so far i like it

Ok I got one finally, pitty all the aus servers are empty at 2.30am :P

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT

Is it just me or is page 2 a bit borked?

k lol

the only probably i have with the beta is that it freezes after about 30mins of play :(

the only thing i hate about it is the fact i dont have a key!

WTB DEMO

Keys are available again guys, last chance.

Clicky

i dont get it ... so you dont need to pay for the fileplanet subsscription? I'm downloading it now and have never paid

also cheers for the reminder whiplash :D

last edited by Captain America at 08:25:31 25/Jun/07

They have released free beta keys, so anyone that isn't subscribed to fileplanet should be able to get a key and download the client.

Ok so I somehow managed to score a key using an ancient gamespy account I had from 1999/2000.

Now I'm 990/999th in queue to download the EXE. Any mirrors or fully exclusive?

heh, i just realised i had an ancient gayspy account too. 20% downloaded.

no official mirrors, but if you PM me I might be able to sort something out

got my key, already downloaded the game yesterday hoping i would score a key.

gonna go home after uni and pwn it up

does anyone know if this beta is timed? Don't wanna download the client if its gonna end within a day or so...

It'll be running for a few weeks at least

Unofficial mirrors via utorrent FYI.

Unofficial mirrors via utorrent FYI.

Yeh these are fine to use but make sure the md5sum matches the official md5sum. Fileplanet still bizarrely haven't got md5sums on their site (I assume because they don't want to have to support it), but the md5sum of the official FilePlanet .exe is:

3abbc358206dab8f9bf27baf8a068160

strogg infiltrator ftw

love pissing off the snipers with my flydrone

managed to score a beta key, im lovin etqw, so many good memories from et lans, the rocket luancher is still a blast :P and omg is the sniper rifle overpowered or what?? i was takin out 3 spawn campers on the otherside of the map! one shot one kill. but yeh great game, will have to fork out for it.

Really; I thought it was underpowered. I've only tried the GDF one but found it annoying to use (read: I can't camp on the far side of the map and kill everyone all the time). I quite like the sniper gameplay stuff but its a totally different experience to ET so I think I just need to display some f***ing adaptability.

Not a good start for me.

Installer took two goes for me. Updated the Windows installer the first time, forced me to reboot. Failed to relaunch itself automatically after the reboot (got a nice big error message), so I ran the installer again manually.

Anyway, eventually fire up the game and copy&paste for the cdkey isn't supported? Fair enough, beta .. dual-monitor and/or low-tech pencil+paper ftw! I enter signup details and it says "Waiting". So I fell asleep and woke up 3 hours later. It still said "Waiting" without letting me cancel! Since Alt-tab isn't supported, I had to End Task it via second monitor with a bit of keyboard/mouse focus trickery.

Will give further updates when I'm actually in contact with some gameplay!

copy&paste for the cdkey isn't supported?

copy and paste the key without the space and last 2 characters works fine

Since Alt-tab isn't supported

alt-enter to window mdoe it

More I play the more I like it, though I find the strogg have got it on easy street with superior weapons (lacerator ftw) and the balance of the map. Or maybe every game I have played the noobs were on GDF

also they get MASSIVE PROPS for making alt-enter work without needing to reload resources. It's f***ing awesome.

More I play the more I like it, though I find the strogg have got it on easy street with superior weapons (lacerator ftw) and the balance of the map. Or maybe every game I have played the noobs were on GDF

Hmm I just find whatever side I'm on wins

huh your strogg team didnt win yesterday :P

nw rec. do the ranks persist into the full release?

I don't think so. Im assuming the account registration system will be different for the full release given that it will use different auth keys and how they've offered that pre reg of usernames for pre-order customers.

stats are lame

I still think the strogg weapons are better. I prefer playing GDI but it s***s me when the timer is about to run out and you plant explosives but its too late. They should freeze the timer if you are in the process of completing an objective to make it more exciting/fun.

They should freeze the timer if you are in the process of completing an objective to make it more exciting/fun.

Maybe that could be an option for newb servers, but working to a timeline is much more 'realistic' and I think adds a good edge to the game

Strogg are quite good i think, but a good GDF team can win if they don't have 10 snipers.

Main unbalancers are flying drones, spawn hosts and the Tormentor. Spawn hosts can absolutely shut out the map if done right. All you need is a soldier to mow down the incoming GDF, and a technician to create spawn hosts and they'll never get through.

Also the Tormentor in the hands of a good pilot can destroy every deployable GDF puts up, and it can keep the disruptor clear. Flying drones are just ridiculously powerful.

last edited by XandraX at 16:26:53 27/Jun/07

Spawn hosts can absolutely shut out the map if done right.

Yeh, I didn't get how spawn hosts worked until a couple of games in (and I think many people still don't get it), so I suspect once people get used to them the Strogg will have a big advantage there (can GDF destroy spawn hosts?).

Maybe that could be an option for newb servers, but working to a timeline is much more 'realistic' and I think adds a good edge to the game

Yes I am talking about public servers, if and when teams are created with some form of a ladder then leave it how it is. This is obviously the type of game that would suit teams and a ladder to avoid the randoms in pub servers.

can GDF destroy spawn hosts?

yep medic can with the defibs.

What and including every private server for lamers to stat farm on would be a better solution?

Stats are meh, but at least they dont seem to be _too_ prominent in etqw. The only one that really matters is your rank, and that's just acheived by playing lots.

Do it right or don't do it at all.

It's not really possible to do it right, which is why they shouldn't do it at all. There's always, always, always going to be assclowns that try to game the stats to get their e-penis value.

The original ET was awesome, because you had that stats stuff, but it was confined to small campaigns. I don't see the value in a global leaderboard thing - as soon as you put stats in the game, you change the way the game is played. Anyone that's ever tried to put stats on ANY server can tell you that. You instantly get jerks that are playing for their stats, and not playing for their team, and it's annoying for people like me that just want to play the game properly.

You instantly get jerks that are playing for their stats

I find the per-session stat-whores worse.

An example from CS: some wanker (with a clan name consisting mostly of non-alphabetic characters) gets below a 1:1 ratio, for some reason he just has to quit and rejoin to try again (for the nth time) with a clean score to look like he's got a good ratio during that map.

f*** I feel like punching them in the balls over the internet.

Happens in a lot of games where people think k/d is important parabol. GA7 ET server is filled with those players who go spec then rejoin to clear their stats.

pretty sure in quake wars there is no kd ratio just points acquired from doing objects and kills.. and then an overall award for each class.. most people healed as a medic etc.

if you want to get lots of points just get into the strogg cyclops and blow stuff up. i racked up 100 points in about 3 mins

the XP system works pretty well i think, if you go out and do what your class is meant to do you get loads of xp. nothing s***s me more though than people playing as a medic or technician and crouching being something sniping enemies, while your sitting there 2 metres away waiting to be revived.

the XP system works pretty well i think, if you go out and do what your class is meant to do you get loads of xp. nothing s***s me more though than people playing as a medic or technician and crouching being something sniping enemies, while your sitting there 2 metres away waiting to be revived.

Yep, it was annoying in ET and its annoying in ETQW. Hopefully onces stats whore retards realise you can get more precious numbers by actually doing your job, we'll see more medics reviving and more people dropping ammo and stuff.

I miss the 3 star ding system that ET had though.

I miss the 3 star ding system that ET had though.

You realise QW has campaign limited stats right? Completely separate from the unrewarding persistent stats.

last edited by Dan at 10:03:48 28/Jun/07

You realise QW has campaign limited stats right? Completely separate from the unrewarding persistent stats.

Yeh, but its not as evident in the interface - ET had the three star thing that showed your progress crystal clear throughout the game. I assume they ditched it because the HUD was already overcrowded, but I really relied on it to easily track my progress throughout the level. I don't know if there's an option to turn it back on in the HUD?

What is the minimum system people here are running it on? What is the max? What is the meaning of life?

pretty sure it will run on mobile phones and still play great.

I'm on an E6600 with a 7600GT and it runs sweet with default settings.