Yes, GOA admits to it as well. If you're not in the WAR beta and have been following Gamereactor International (or "GRI", as we like to call it - it sounds like a really cool sound effect. Griiiiiiiiiiiiiii), it's been kinda hard to miss my constant whining about how much Mythic's service provider here in poor Europe (the real Old World) managed to screw things up when it came to beta signups and patching. When it came to yesterday's patch 4.1.1, the final patch before the game's proper commercial release tomorrow, things went so crazy that the servers weren't up again for many hours, despite GOA's initial claims that patching would only take one hour.
Anyway, I'm not totally old and bitter yet, so I will give GOA another try with the retail version of the game, crossing my fingers for better stability and that the head start actually will go ahead as planned tomorrow. And I am very happy to see that Ghislaine Le Rhun, GOA's CEO, is now offering seven free days of play to everyone who participated in the open beta because of all the troubles they had. I suppose Marc Jacob and his team has been screaming so much at Le Rhun and his co-workers so much this last week that they didn't really think they would have much of an option...
I am glad. Maybe, just maybe, things will be alright? Here's hoping. I'll be back tomorrow to write an update on how release went, and a bit about why I am so hung up about this particular game working as intended. Until then I leave you with the full letter posted by Le Rhun at war-europe.com:
"Dear all,
More than 100,000 European players have now created characters and launched enthusiastically into the violent and bloody battlefields of the Old World every evening. Despite this, for many of you and for us as well, the launch of the open beta has left a bitter taste. While it is true that the purpose of Beta Testing a game is to indeed expose problems before a game launches, the launch did not happen anywhere near as smoothly as we had planned.
Because of this I have decided to offer seven free days to all of the beta testers. If you decide to continue your adventures in WAR, and we certainly hope you do, you will be credited on your account from the 18th of September and will be able to take part in the adventure without any regret. By the beginning of next week, we expect many more to join us as we open the gates for our Head Start, and we look forward to welcoming all of you in the Warhammer world.
Best regards,
Ghislaine Le Rhun
GOA CEO"