Limited Beta and Testing "Server Load and Stress" Is Smoke and Mirrors
 

Title^.

There is something other than server load that is causing the delay. Why? Two reasons

(1) If there were the real issue, they could simply do a "gradual release." What I mean by this, is open Dominion but only allow X games to run at once, then steadily increase the number. and/or only allow people to play a few Dominion games each day. And if its really bad, just disable it during weekends. NOTE: this is different from what's going on now, I mean for Dominion to actually be out and more available.

(2) Do they expect tons more people to log on than normal when Dominion is released? If so, how is this Beta going to prepare them for this influx? Unless they plan to upgrade their server rack, (which they really should have been doing way before the release) I just don't see how this limited beta is actually helping them.

The Real Reason

Marketing. November is a big month in game releases, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this limited beta magically extended until the end of October. Releasing now is bad because the shine of a new game mode will have worn off by the time all of the new big releases come out.

Ok

Ok.

i dont think its possible for them to limit the amount of games that can be run. What they are afraid of is the flood. When season 1 started... it was complete disaster, the server was extremely unstable and everyone was raging on the forum.

this is only a precaution. I can tell u the dominion game mode is ready, no bugs in sight. having dominion timing windows WILL surprise and get only a few lucky people to test.
Like they said, they will open more opportunities for the beta. i'd give it 2 weeks to a month before dominion's release.

You must not have noticed any of the problems. There were serious lag issues at times with Dominion. I mean, speaking you did at least 3 games, how did you /not/ notice a single issue, probably lag/communication related (with respect to the servers).

Trust me, if they released it live right now, I'll have to break out the 360 for a day or two.

I'm sure marketing is a handy bonus, but there are plenty of valid reasons for beta testing in this manner. You can run a piece of software internally for ages and never catch game-breaking (or server breaking) issues.

Ok

1) it is a gradual release with expanding windows of availability

2) a gradual release is exactly how to prepare for increased logins.

Server load is definitely real and causing the delay.

1. A gradual release would piss people off far more than the current system. Right now you just need to be lucky and on at the right time to play, if there was gradual release, you would have to wait in a line for probably over an hour to get a game started.

2. Now when dominion releases, plenty of people will have played it already. These people are not as likely to rush in and play tons of games as people who have been waiting months and have yet to play it. For the majority it's going to be "Hey cool, dominion's back" instead of "Dominion's finally here, lets play now!"

OK