Hellgate: London Pre-Order w/ Beta

Is this still supposed to be coming out at the end of the month? If so, shouldn’t we be seeing a demo soon?
 
I just pre-ordered it from best buy, how do I get my beta key? Will best buy send me an email with the key or will the Hellgate guys send me a key? I just really want to play and am wondering how long this could take.
 
I pre-ordered my copy yesterday and punched in the beta key, but haven't yet gotten an invite. Anyone know when the next batch is coming? When I try to log in, it just says invites are coming soon (like we didn't already know that!) :(.
 
GoldenTiger said:
I pre-ordered my copy yesterday and punched in the beta key, but haven't yet gotten an invite. Anyone know when the next batch is coming? When I try to log in, it just says invites are coming soon (like we didn't already know that!) :(.
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Just keep waitin'. It happens when it happens. I waited about 4 days, but not everyone has been as fortunate. The last wave was on Friday.
 
I'm in the beta already, or at least I think that's what it is. I spent an hour on the District Line getting to work this morning and it was Hell.

As for the game... the fact that people are saying it's not as good as Diablo isn't exactly warming me to it, since Diablo was procedurally generated, massmarket tripe with no depth. It was like a traditional RPG but with all the good bits taken out and stripped down to random cut and paste corridors with you clicking the mouse button repeatedly whilst watching your character grow with glacial speed. At least Gauntlet had the excuse of being an arcade game released in the 80's and being the first one with a large 4-joystick cabinet and lots of speech samples. :rolleyes:

I might get it though if it means I can shoot crossbows and stuff at London Underground staff without being arrested.
 
Sentinel54 said:
Just keep waitin'. It happens when it happens. I waited about 4 days, but not everyone has been as fortunate. The last wave was on Friday.
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Still stupid that they promote beta yet it's not actually available to all new purchasers, just at various random times, if you ask me :(.
 
just got my beta invite activated and now downloading at 500kb/s+. i purchased the pre-order friday afternoon so i missed the last wave of invites which was early friday morning i think. won't be able to play much though with Half Life 2: Ep 2 and Portal being released on steam in about 6 hours... :(:)
 
Can't say too much, but I've noticed some good improvements. I hope this keeps up.

And about invites: Beta invites come in waves, so everyone who preorders will get in. It took me a few days also.
 
So are they going to open up open beta for non-pre-orderers? I am 95% sure I will buy the game due to the great reviews and things I've heard of it, but I hate pre-orders. You barely ever get the game the day of release, it's always delayed-- at least for me and my friends. Was hoping to try it for myself before they released it, but maybe that's not going to happen.:rolleyes:
 
whrswoldo said:
Yes. I doubt it, since the game is still in beta testing. :confused:
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amen. I actually hope not. This game is about as ready for release as DNF... :(

Skizzy said:
So are they going to open up open beta for non-pre-orderers? I am 95% sure I will buy the game due to the great reviews and things I've heard of it, but I hate pre-orders. You barely ever get the game the day of release, it's always delayed-- at least for me and my friends. Was hoping to try it for myself before they released it, but maybe that's not going to happen.:rolleyes:
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Great reviews? What great reviews? It's not out yet.
 
I got in a couple of days ago, I am finding it quite enjoyable. Definitely going to pick up my pre-order once it's in :).
 
Skizzy said:
Errr.. read the whole thread.
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None of the people in here are game reviewers. I've played the beta. Most of the people, both in the beta and not, agree that this game is a real mess right now, and no where near release ready. I'm sure a few people will like it, but personally, I'm warning as many off as I can: It's not at all what most people hoped for (diablo 2 esque). It's closer to a WoW grind with a 5 year old engine, badly broken skill trees, and slightly broken at best gameplay.

to quote one of my friends who put it better:

I've been in the beta for a week now and I have moved it from the 'must buy immediately' category to 'if its $20, I am incredibly bored, and its been patched into working order.... then maybe'

Currently it runs like crap and feels boring and bland. The DX9 engine looks like a 2002 game, the DX10 engine looks ugly and runs like shit, and it crashes VERY FREQUENTLY. I expect that from early betas, but for a game that comes out in less than a month the crash frequency and BSOD screens are a troubling sign.

I find the gamplay is also very bland and boring. Attack animations get boring and my swordsman can hit anything within a 15' radius when I swing. If its flying 10' over my head or is 15' directly behind me, I swing and it dies or explodes. Game just feels off when you attack a creature in front of you and a ubiquitous volatile barrel on the other side of the street and behind you explodes. The sword swing animation does not get within a 6' of the barrel, but it explodes - every damn time. Combat just ~feels~ ridiculously off.

The randomly generated instanced combat areas ~feel~ randomly generated. City blocks that dead-end, sewers that have paths leading into brick walls. The most tedious aspects of Diablo 2 are in Hellgate.

So far I have been very disappointed.
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I think a large portion of the issue is that the team has never worked on a 3D game before. In a recent interview with Roper he states that most of the teams' last project was Diablo 2.

The 3D mechanics and engine are bad. The characters glide around the level, they go up stairs like its a ramp. The engine has major clipping, memory, and texture issues. Major as in almost certainly not fixable by launch major. Hit locations are ~way~ off. Blademaster combat feels bad...

These are the issues that turned me off the game. Other issues that seem to be driving the masses into a frenzy on the HGL beta forums are the skill trees (consensus is that they are badly broken - most of this screeching is coming from hardcore D2 players) and the plot & quests. The plot is apparently pretty non-existent as the game progresses, most of the NPCs are annoying civilians that spend all their time making sex and fart jokes and sending the player on pointless random quests. The devs used their expanded license to add some humor and puns to the game, but most players hate it and feel it takes all meaning and the epic feel out of the plot. You have to play to understand what I mean, but the devs went WAY overboard on this.

And the quests..... go to location A and kill B of creature type C. Rinse, repeat. I was given this same quest type 5 times in less than an hour of play. 'nuff said.
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You want to explore the exact same basement of a house 1000+ times in a game? Because it's random... and you get the EXACT same basement, with a slightly different location for the power box, barrel (burning or not), and debris pile... but it's the same, every, single, time.
 
lopoetve said:
None of the people in here are game reviewers. I've played the beta. Most of the people, both in the beta and not, agree that this game is a real mess right now, and no where near release ready. I'm sure a few people will like it, but personally, I'm warning as many off as I can: It's not at all what most people hoped for (diablo 2 esque). It's closer to a WoW grind with a 5 year old engine, badly broken skill trees, and slightly broken at best gameplay.
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You need to stay out of betas and stick to demos. You clearly have no idea what they involve or why you agree to an NDA.
 
lopoetve said:
None of the people in here are game reviewers.
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I never said anyone in here is a game reviewer. Anyone talking about something, giving their opinion on what they like/dislike/etc. is reviewing the subject at hand. Due to people having an opinion of "great" towards the game, I feel, is someone giving it a great review. Now, not everybody knows what they are talking about, and some people like extremely poor games (there are some people still playing Two Worlds). But I always take a review with a grain of salt. However, since I've found so many of these "great reviews", it's kind of hard not to lean that way. I do take into account the negative things people say about the game though.

I've played the beta. Most of the people, both in the beta and not, agree that this game is a real mess right now, and no where near release ready.
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I don't know where you get "most" from, but it seems there are more people who like it than dislike it (based on this thread alone; might be biased somehow).

I'm sure a few people will like it, but personally, I'm warning as many off as I can: It's not at all what most people hoped for (diablo 2 esque). It's closer to a WoW grind with a 5 year old engine, badly broken skill trees, and slightly broken at best gameplay.
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I played WoW since release (unfortunately; no new MMO releases) so I'm prepared for a grind. Now that I think about it, wasn't Diablo 2 technically ALL about grinding? There was no quest experience if I remember correctly.

That 5-year-old engine looks great to me. Maybe because I've played WoW (again, unfortunately) for the last 3 years, so I haven't seen many new graphics, but IMO the graphics are great from what I've seen.

I will however take your "badly broken skill trees" and "slightly broken at best gameplay" statements into consideration though, as I haven't heard, surprisingly, much about those. I think there was only one other comment in this thread about the skill trees, and he related it to the Diablo 2 skill trees.

You want to explore the exact same basement of a house 1000+ times in a game? Because it's random... and you get the EXACT same basement, with a slightly different location for the power box, barrel (burning or not), and debris pile... but it's the same, every, single, time.
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That's weird. Didn't they say they were making it like Diablo 2 was; a completely different setup for each "map" every time? That's odd only a few things would thing.

Well, like I was said, I hope they open up open beta (which I seriously don't think they will at this point in time), to give it a shot myself, since you yourself know what you like and dislike about the games.

IcedEmotion said:
You need to stay out of betas and stick to demos. You clearly have no idea what they involve or why you agree to an NDA.
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You need to stay out of this thread and stick to other ones. Your mind will esplode from all the other leaked information in this thread. Get over it.
 
Skizzy said:
You need to stay out of this thread and stick to other ones. Your mind will esplode from all the other leaked information in this thread. Get over it.
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Just because it's out there doesn't make it right. I hate people who think they are doing others a service by leaking info from a pre-release build. If the NDA is lifted and you've played the build that went gold that's another story, but when they're rolling out patches daily and weekly it's asinine to assume you are playing the final retail product. As such, you're nothing but an ignorant fool if you think you are doing others any good by 'warning' them of what you have played.
 
Has a build gone gold yet?

Apperently on the forums the build they just updated to fixes a ton of stuff. I am on the fence on whether to buy a copy now or not.

All my friends are trying to peer pressure me into it and im a poor college student
 
IcedEmotion said:
Just because it's out there doesn't make it right.
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Definitely agree here, but if NO ONE shared their opinions, maybe not as many people would buy the game.

I hate people who think they are doing others a service by leaking info from a pre-release build. If the NDA is lifted and you've played the build that went gold that's another story, but when they're rolling out patches daily and weekly it's assinine to assume you are playing the final retail product.
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Some things don't change that much from build-to-build. Considering there is only 17? days left, I highly doubt there are going to be any huge changes. There always can be though, which may sway those opinions. If a big change is made, I'm sure people will give their opinion on that, so their opinion is "refreshed" from big-game-change to big-game-change.
 
Langly said:
Has a build gone gold yet?

Apperently on the forums the build they just updated to fixes a ton of stuff. I am on the fence on whether to buy a copy now or not.

All my friends are trying to peer pressure me into it and im a poor college student
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No it hasn't. Even if it has gone gold, the build beta people are playing isn't necessarily the build that went gold. That's why all these 'warnings' not to buy the game are so stupid.
 
IcedEmotion said:
No it hasn't. Even if it has gone gold, the build beta people are playing isn't necessarily the build that went gold. That's why all these 'warnings' not to buy the game are so stupid.
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Thats what I thought.

Mmmmmm I am SO torn!!!!!!! To pre-order now and play in the beta or wait and see...
 
IcedEmotion said:
No it hasn't. Even if it has gone gold, the build beta people are playing isn't necessarily the build that went gold. That's why all these 'warnings' not to buy the game are so stupid.
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bugs can be fixed. Poor design, not so much. I hope it does well: I had preordered the game before the beta stuff, I WANTED this game.

Sadly, as is, I don't want to ever play it again. It's bad, and there is no reason to play a bad game.

IcedEmotion said:
You need to stay out of betas and stick to demos. You clearly have no idea what they involve or why you agree to an NDA.
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I signed nothing.

And yes, I've been in plenty of betas. We're less than a month from release. This game is broken.
 
lopoetve said:
bugs can be fixed. Poor design, not so much. I hope it does well: I had preordered the game before the beta stuff, I WANTED this game.

Sadly, as is, I don't want to ever play it again. It's bad, and there is no reason to play a bad game.
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I don't know, I find the current design enjoyable. The only issue I have with it is the lack of variety in the levels. Sewers, subway tunnels and the same destroyed cities/parks over and over does get tiring. Hopefully they'll add something more as the game develops, but as it stands that is hardly a deal breaker.

Plenty of other people in the beta really enjoy the game, so I don't know why you feel that your opinion is worth so much more than theirs and that you must go on a crusade damning the game before it's even released.
 
Skizzy said:
I don't know where you get "most" from, but it seems there are more people who like it than dislike it (based on this thread alone; might be biased somehow).

I played WoW since release (unfortunately; no new MMO releases) so I'm prepared for a grind. Now that I think about it, wasn't Diablo 2 technically ALL about grinding? There was no quest experience if I remember correctly.
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So did I. It was more fun in WoW than Hellgate. And D2 had all the quests centered around specific objectives, and the levels were grinding. In Hellgate, the quests ARE the grinding, and that's all there is
That 5-year-old engine looks great to me. Maybe because I've played WoW (again, unfortunately) for the last 3 years, so I haven't seen many new graphics, but IMO the graphics are great from what I've seen.
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Your character is blurry (Design decision!) and lower res than UT1. The windows have an old reflection map on them, not a true reflection, so they show some massive city scape, even if you're in a closed alley. etc. It pulls you out of the game.
I will however take your "badly broken skill trees" and "slightly broken at best gameplay" statements into consideration though, as I haven't heard, surprisingly, much about those. I think there was only one other comment in this thread about the skill trees, and he related it to the Diablo 2 skill trees.
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They're very similar to the D2 trees. Unfortunately, there are a lot of ~totally~ useless things on there, and many that are way to hard to get to (by the time you do, they're useless). The skills you need are pretty much locked: You only really have one way to play. No being an ice sorc, or fire, or whatever. There's only one set that works well.
That's weird. Didn't they say they were making it like Diablo 2 was; a completely different setup for each "map" every time? That's odd only a few things would thing.
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Supposedly, but D2 has more random than this, by far. And it flows better. this... jsut feels like a drunken monkey designed london :(
Well, like I was said, I hope they open up open beta (which I seriously don't think they will at this point in time), to give it a shot myself, since you yourself know what you like and dislike about the games.
.
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I'd hope so too. I'd at LEAST wait for final reviews before touching it.

I honestly do hope it's good. I've been wanting this for a while. Sadly, as is, I'd rather not play it.
 
IcedEmotion said:
I don't know, I find the current design enjoyable. The only issue I have with it is the lack of variety in the levels. Sewers, subway tunnels and the same destroyed cities/parks over and over does get tiring. Hopefully they'll add something more as the game develops, but as it stands that is hardly a deal breaker.

Plenty of other people in the beta really enjoy the game, so I don't know why you feel that your opinion is worth so much more than theirs and that you must go on a crusade damning the game before it's even released.
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Because my opinion is worth just as much as theirs, and I feel like expressing it.

Personally, given the massive list of games coming this fall, boring areas would certainly be a deal breaker for me: With everything coming out, I only have time for the best :(

I really just dislike the lack true originality and passion that D2 had. This is just, well, bland.

It's not BAD, I guess... Just "meh" at best. In other words, it might last a playthrough, but I'll never work the other characters. Why waste the money, when there are better things uot there? Apathy is not the emotion you want about an up and coming game.
 
lopoetve said:
Because my opinion is worth just as much as theirs, and I feel like expressing it.

Personally, given the massive list of games coming this fall, boring areas would certainly be a deal breaker for me: With everything coming out, I only have time for the best :(

I really just dislike the lack true originality and passion that D2 had. This is just, well, bland.

It's not BAD, I guess... Just "meh" at best. In other words, it might last a playthrough, but I'll never work the other characters. Why waste the money, when there are better things uot there? Apathy is not the emotion you want about an up and coming game.
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Your opinion is worth as much as theirs, yes. My point is that you have no clue whether someone else will like it or not, so by you telling everyone not to buy it you're potentially robbing people of a game they may find enjoyable (assuming anyone listens to you, which is debateable). So yes it's fine to post once that you don't like the game, and it would be better if you reached this decision AFTER playing the final build and not the beta.

You seem hellbent on going into every HGL thread and ripping the game to shreds and it isn't even in a final build yet. You need to chill out and wait for the beta to at least end before you write off the game and go on a quest to stop others from buying it.
 
Just for reference they just released a big, big updated so we'll see what changed today. I've heard that we're playing a version of the game that's literally 5-6 versions behind what the dev team has... so there are improvements coming down the line. And many of them are visible every new patch
 
I have been playing Beta for a while now. I was one of the top barbarians on UsEast, pre.09...

This game is fantastic, it is fun, and is DEFINITELY worth buying. Even if you play occasionally.

Everyone who is saying:

"This game sucks"
"It is Bad"

Should stop posting about the game. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT listen to these people. Get it and make your own opinion of it.
 
IcedEmotion said:
Your opinion is worth as much as theirs, yes. My point is that you have no clue whether someone else will like it or not, so by you telling everyone not to buy it you're potentially robbing people of a game they may find enjoyable (assuming anyone listens to you, which is debateable). So yes it's fine to post once that you don't like the game, and it would be better if you reached this decision AFTER playing the final build and not the beta.

You seem hellbent on going into every HGL thread and ripping the game to shreds and it isn't even in a final build yet. You need to chill out and wait for the beta to at least end before you write off the game and go on a quest to stop others from buying it.
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I'll post if I want to :cool:

I actually resisted posting in these till we finally saw some things in game that were so absurd that we just sat back and said "welp, this one is done. Lets hope they fix it. Crysis beta time!"

People make recommendations about games all the time. Personally, I find Hellgate horribly broken, so I tell people that when they ask about the game. It Hellgate's current form, it gets extremely old fast, and is very very boring after about 10 hours, and has about zero replayability.
 
Temperfied said:
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT listen to these people. Get it and make your own opinion of it.
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Well if we did that and we didn't like it, then we'd be out $50. I think I'll just wait for a demo to be released vice a beta.
 
Xaeos said:
Just for reference they just released a big, big updated so we'll see what changed today. I've heard that we're playing a version of the game that's literally 5-6 versions behind what the dev team has... so there are improvements coming down the line. And many of them are visible every new patch
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Apperently this new patch fixed a great deal of things like made the game less laggy etc.

I will probably buy this game in the end because playing an OK game with friends is still better then playing a great game with friends. I play video games to have fun and my friends I play with definitely make it fun.
 
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