Quake Live Public Beta Launches To High Demand

x1n933k writes "For anybody who was sitting on top of Quake Live's website today, clicking refresh and waiting for it to open, you can now browse over and join the fun. Unfortunately you'll have to hold in a queue: 'Here we are all dressed up and nowhere to go. Don't worry, to make sure everyone can enjoy the game we have activated our super secret Queue system, which keeps the server from being overloaded and affecting the website.' I've been waiting 40 minutes and now up to 591, after starting from 9982 but have been playing Quake 3 to kill time." The queue bounced up over 15,000, and as of this posting, is down to about 7,000. It moves pretty quickly, and there's an explanatory tour to watch while you wait. Reader Rogerpq3 contributes an interview with id's John Carmack and Marty Stratton, in which they discuss the game's technology and server infrastructure, as well as their thoughts on mod support.

This looks fun.

[CrazyJim1]

There are ranked games and that appeals to me. I like to know how good I am in relation to the general populace. In the old quake, you could be top dog on a server, but still not know how good you are in relation to the world. I waited 3 hours through bugs, crashes and the queue to get it to work. It didn't work on IE6 or Firefox because the mouse wouldn't move, but I did get it to work on IE7. I played the training missions, but I was not able to play live because I was looking through the options to see how I can set weapon priorities. I always find it annoying when I am wielding a rocket launcher for me to switch to a shot gun just because I walk over it. While I was looking through my options and browsing the QuakeLive forums for help, I timed out. I'll wait until tomorrow if someone has an answer how I can set weapon priorities on the forums. It may just be another FPS, but it is a classy enough one that it is worth playing if for no other reason than to enhance your FPS skill.

Re:plugin required

[SpazmodeusG]

They couldn't give you a stand-alone .exe for free because that wouldn't help them acheive their goal of creating a 3D engine browser plug-in with a large install base.

Re:Prepare to asplode

[urbanriot]

It's funny, I was getting up there, into 900 and then my queue position started rising not lowering. I gave up when it hit a few thousand. I'll wait until the fresh popularity wanes and give it a shot again.

Re:No linux or mac support

[WiiVault]

As a Mac user let me say sir, you are a moron. iD has already stated there will be a Linux version. Granted us Mac users will more than likely get it first but seriously dude get off your high horse. You sound like a mega troll.

Re:Punkbuster service

[Iron E]

Some of the hilarious wording from the Punkbuster license agreement:

Licensee agrees that the invasive nature of PunkBuster software is necessary to meet this purpose and goal. Licensee agrees that any harm or lack of privacy resulting from the installation and use of PunkBuster software is not as valuable to Licensee as the potential ability to play interactive online games with the benefits afforded by using PunkBuster software.