Betas are not a good environment for people who want a trial before making a commitment to a game.
But unfortunately, most MMO developers only seem to have beta’s, and not trials.

Which in turn causes the player base to treat the beta’s ‘as if they were’ a trial, which is a mistake as the game is not finished yet. (of course they treat it as if it was)

If I were in the developers shoes, I would have a beta of course, to work out the bugs, but make it clear from the get go that there will be the option of a two week trial for the game on release.
While consistently pointing out the fact that the ‘game is not ready’, for the thick.

I think it is a very good idea for games to have a two week or so trial, as it gives players the ability to give it a go without risk to themselves, and makes the game far more accessible in general.

If EVE Online didn’t have it’s two week trial, I wouldn’t have gotten into it in the first place.
(while I didn’t stay, they did get money out of me as a result of having the trial)

Sure they won’t really be able to do box sales as a result, but they will likely pick that money up by making the game more accessible, which will grab people who otherwise can’t or won’t just go out and buy any MMO that pops on the shelf.
It gives the studio a wider audience, and more time to sell their product.

If their only using beta, then that’s all their banking on to sell their product, which as I mentioned before, is limited and incomplete. So, not such as great idea.

But that’s enough of my inane rant.
I go now.

~Yoh

Companies that don’t make the trial available from release (i.e. all of them at the moment) are basically admitting to me that their game is a steaming pile.

Every game should have the ability to try it before buying it.

Trying to operate a beta with a large number of players who are just trying it for free: That’s getting messy.

I’d like to see an end to the era of large open betas and usher in a new era of free trials available at launch. That would be the most honest approach.

I do like that fresh feeling of a totally new game but when it comes down the cost of the box vs. “doing it first”, I’ll save the cash.

Still, that’s language for you. Open Beta is becoming the signifier attached to the concept of “limited period free trial immediately before launch”, so we may as well get used to it.

Just call it “open trial to see if you like this game after we kept it closed for months”