A general perspective shift from the community...

This is not meant to flame anyone or start any arguments. I just want to hopefully adjust some perspectives that seem to be viewing things incorrectly.

First off, this is a Beta version of the game. Whether you agree or disagree with that category, doesn't change this it is still a game that is very much in the early stage of it's development. There will be bugs. There will be systems that are not fully developed yet. There will be times when system code is changed to a degree that items or characters become incompatible with the current build of the game and will be lost. You either have to accept it, or wait for the game to be finished and let the people who want to test and improve the Beta, do so.

Second, you DID NOT pay extra money to get this game early. Early access does not mean you are a VIP and you are getting a finished product before anyone else. You have pre-ordered a game that is still in production and have been GIVEN A BONUS GIFT of being allowed to help with it's development if you so choose. No one is twisting your arm or forcing you to do so. If you cannot handle a game that is still incomplete, then uninstall it for now and treat it just like your Assassin's Creed pre-order. Once the game's store page on Steam has the big blue "Early Access" box removed, the game will be done and you can re-install and play for 1000+ hours without any threat of losing your hard earned characters.

Third, the devs have given us an opportunity to help improve a game that is already on its way to becoming amazing. What they need from us is help finding bugs, glitches, typos, exploits and other general programming silliness. They also need suggestions on awesome things that we as players think would make the game more enjoyable since we are the ones who will be playing it for the next 20 years. They DO NOT need anyone telling them how they should be doing their jobs, delivering info, neglecting their families, or running their Beta. If you think you can do better, prove it.

Thanks

 

You're not a real programmer if you don't neglect your family.

 

Actually, I like to compare the devs to my kids.

Hit them to make them work harder.

 

This thread makes too much sense, so I imagine it's going to be buried by something along the lines of "Why did my character get deleted?" any minute now.

 

You're probably right, but I had to try...

I guess all we can do is wait for the gamers to get mad and leave after the next few character wipes so the real testers can start working.

 

Only thread that makes a bit of sense on the entire front page. Not counting stickies, of course.

 

sad but true

 

You speak the truth, good sir.


Have a like, I would give you more if i could.



Hopefully more character wipes will rid this place of the non beta testers....

 

You do know this is a BETA!!


Oh wait its not that kind of thread. Move along nothing to see here!

 

Thank you, and i very much like your Avatar! I promise I won't steal it though.

 

I think the biggest hurdle the devs have here is that people have become too used to what "beta" means for the big companies. Especially when it is offered as a perk of pr-order. It is no longer really a testing phase for sweeping changes. It is used as a marketing tool. While Starbound does get lots of buzz off the beta, it is also a real beta the likes of which the gaming community as a whole has probably not seen in a long time. (NOTE: I don't know if other early access games on Steam are doing this as well, but if they are it is, for me, a welcome return to real beta testing.)

 

Yea going to have to interrupt your circle-jerking here; this kind of beta is exactly for giving the developers feedback and suggestions on how they should be doing their jobs, it's our task to figure out what works and what doesn't, doing a practical test of the theory the developers put together and providing feedback (that's more than just stating how amazing everything is, this shit is useless information in any development process)

This means telling them what you hate, what works for you and what doesn't, and why. if anything, these forums should be filled with nothing but complaints, as these are things the developers can use, can potentially fix and solve. Just telling them they're doing an amazing job is nice and all, but sticking a feather up someone's ass isn't going to make them deliver a better product, consumer feedback is.

Certainly, people could be nicer about how they word things, and we could all share in group hugs and talk about unicorns too, but the fact of the matter remains that this isn't just people we're dealing with, these are people on an internet forum, trying to make the people that misbehave act like decent human beings is more of a waste of time than telling developers their product is perfect during a beta.

If anything, it's awful to see nearly every thread that posts feedback and legitimate complaints get flooded by fanboys insisting "if you don't like it, don't play it" or "it's just a beta" or otherwise attempting to invalidate what is essentially a complaint of someone who is very much a member of the potential consumerbase, which those fanboys are effectively alienating, this, if anything, will cause indirect financial damage to the developers due to loss of sales because they were unable to hear, let alone meet, the wishes of part of their potential customers.

Whether a complaint is valid or not is NOT for you to decide, you are NOT here to police the development nor the feedback of the consumers and your very efforts are subversive and at best, futile.

 

I couldn't say it any better myself, I'm happy to be testing an actual product rather than an unfinished "beta" game, this game is already on a very solid foundation and is going a lot farther than most companies these days. Thank you Chucklefish!

 

I have several Early Access games on my account. Some are mostly done and just tweaking, but a few are just as early in their development as Starbound. My other favorite Early Access game is Starpoint Gemini 2.

 

I wouldn't say it's a beta, even though that's what the devs are calling it. A beta is feature-complete for the most part, and it's just ironing out the small stuff, maybe some small balancing. I would say this game is in an alpha stage right now, what with all the patches, core changes, ect. Regardless, I'm happy to be participating in it, and to help the game become as good as it can The topics about the character deletions are annoying though. What most of the big companies call a "beta" is really just a demo, or a stress test to see how well the game will handle with that many players on at once

Edit: Didn't mean to double post

 

This pretty much is an early Beta (note the early, it's important) Alpha is generally testing the core mechanics and code, making sure models do what they're supposed to and such, Beta continues from that, but slowly trickles in new features, mechanics and doodads while trying to make sure nothing breaks in the process. Yes, the game is barely out of Alpha, which is, again, exactly what an early Beta is.

 

This post is not about how people give feedback about the game. If you don't like having to use pickaxes when you are carrying a matter manipulator around that you got.... from your spaceship.... that is in orbit, then say so.

What I'm referring to about telling the Devs how to do their jobs is a post I saw yesterday where someone was criticizing Tyi for spending 19 hours on a patch that they thought wasn't showing 19 of work. That was totally useless to the Devs. The fact that this is a Beta is still true, whether you think it is a valid point or not. If chili peppers give you heart burn, don't eat them and whine about it. The same goes for Beta... no reason to get stressed out over a game a then abuse the people who are trying to give you something to enjoy.

You seem very angry about something.... if it's this Beta version of this game, then I'd suggest you take a breather and come back when the air bags have been installed. If it's something else, then I'd suggest that a message board is probably not a good place to seek therapy.

 

What's a beta and what's not a beta is mostly semantics at this point.

If you really want to give it a name than I guess you'd call it the Progenitor Phase.

 

I would describe your idea of a Beta an as "Open Beta" where as I would describe Starbound as a "Closed Beta". Usually you have to get an invite to participate in a Closed Beta. In this case we got the invite when we pre-ordered the game. Semantics, but they are different.

 

Angry? Well yes, and my post explained why, the fact that people legitimately testing this game tend to get drowned in fanboy screech being the most obvious point.

But really, you argue that you were talking about what are fairly obviously pointless trolls to ignore (which is another point I already mentioned in the quoted post) which is again another waste of time.

My final point remains, you are NOT here to police the place, nor is it even remotely worthwhile to try, the only thing you will cause is a herd of sheep flock here to agree and nothing really happens, you just wasted space on the forum, much like the people you are berating.