Concerning the closed/open Beta..

I know that many people will probably hate me for posting this, seeing as it's "answered in the FAQ", but I can't help but wonder, do the developers not recognise that not everyone can post on the forums everyday? Some of us have jobs/families/school/etc. to attend to, and that means that only the people who post EVERY DAY will get to play this absolutely awesome-looking game. I only ask that there be a more balanced way of picking testers, or in fact, taking the Minecraft approach, where there is an open Alpha, and those who are eager to buy the game can do so, even in the early stages (which will also add a bit of incentive to the Devs as well ).

 

Well it is incredibly hard to recieve feedback when the beta for a game is shipped to the masses.
I believe the method of giving it to those heavily involved in the community is a fairly efficient way of finding people who are somewhat dedicated to the game, hence why it is unlikely they will give it to someone who has too many responsibilities to be able to dedicate free time to this cause.

 

The choice of beta testers has nothing to do with people being on the forum every day, or with a high post count. Tiy stated that they would pick people who contribute to the community, and it will not be people who just spam up the forum to seem "active." If you are excited about the game, and you are here to be part of that, you have just as much chance as anyone.

 

I'd agree wwith PuppyVolcano on this. The dev team is putting a lot of thought into how they are going to run the beta test. if they do what minecraft did, i.e. the release an open beta, then they would be releasing an unfinished product, and when they get around to adding the rest of the content in, people will start to lose interest in the game. The game is also at a stage were it could have some major gameplay mechcanics change, and thats something they can't do easily when people are already playing old one and this may get annoying/confusing for the player having somthing like that change.
remember beta testers are not there to play the game early. they are there to find problems/glitches within the game and work with the devs to fix it.

just try to involve yourself the community the best you can, and maybe someone on the dev team will notice your effort.

 

I am not sure where you have seen it will be based on post count (I could of just missed it), but either way there are lots of people who want into the closed beta. There was a whole discussion on it. "Here". I think have heard that you need to be active, on the forum, or it was your join date, and even some about this post count thing. I think the only thing that Tiy actually said was "Active in the community". Take that as you will..

It is great that you are eager to play the game, a lot of people here are.. But sometimes you have to pick someone over someone else, and there is really no "Best" way. No-matter what you choose there is always going to be some people who are left out, because they didn't fit. Sure this is kinda harsh, but by the time the game comes out to a place that is actually open enough for Beta testers from the Forums (Or IIRC, Or wherever) the game itself is prob not that far off. So just try to be patient, and know the game itself isn't going to "Go" anywhere, so as long as you wait it will come around for ya.

I hear this a lot, and ya know I got to disagree strongly to your second point. Because you have more free time then others, does not mean you are a better person to try out, and return information on the game. I apologize if this offends, but this is a cop out for someone with too much free time on their hands to try to say hey I am better then that other person who actually has to work for a living. Again I understand this might be offensive, but imagine how offensive it is for those who do have to work hard, just to come back home and hear your worse because there are other responsibilities in your life, and that free time that you do have, that you dedicated to checking this out, is not worth squat.

Edit: I think it should go by Average word count per post heh..

 

I understand where you are coming from, I myself have much to be doing. but at no point did I suggest people are worse for having responsibilties.
however having a smaller group of core beta testers is almost definitely going to give better feed back with which to enhance the games overall quality.
having the time to actually beta test the game is incredibly important in the actual beta test process. the beta while enjoyable, is not just there for you to have fun with, it is actually serving a purpose. hence being able to invest some time into it will assist the devs. that being said the person must still be able to give decent feedback. time to play the beta is by no means the determining factor. however I don't think its that unreasonable to say that giving the beta to someone who would not have the chance to test would be a complete waste of time

sorry if I may have offended you, no hard feelings.

 

Lol.. Okay Okay I will pull it back a notch. My bad, it is just I have heard this argument in a few places, and it just never sits right with me because I know some people who are super busy with other things, but make time to do the things they enjoy. It would be too bad if those extra efforts were meaningless. Maybe I jumped the gun on this on though... oops

Oh I agree, and personally I think people are over interpreting the whole one line that was said. Its like he said only people with green hair get to play the beta, and there were 20 posts about what shade. Honestly if you are looking for people for the sheer "Testing Process" the amount of people you will find on a forum that will actually do this is prob pretty low (Those with lots of time or without). But I agree without feedback the test would not work well, and a lot of the bugs that were in the alpha will still be there when it is released. This happens, and I can bet within the first hour of actual release, even after an alpha or "closed beta" or whatever, there will still be "Tons" of posts of hey this isn't working.. But that also happens heh.

People are just excited to start playing, that is all it is. They want to play a cool game, and can't wait. It's cool I am excited to try it out too! But this leaves for a lot of people trying to wrestle over an earlier release. That's what most of this is about, more then who deserves to try it, and that isn't right. All you can do is wait for more information, and hope the Alpha is successful.

No worries, I misinterpreted your meaning.

 

I'm surprised this got as many replies as it did! xD
The Devs aren't stupid, you guys. Just because there is a bigger group of testers doesn't mean that they won't get feedback. I know it seems a bit greedy of me, and I can admit that, but seeing how Minecraft was so incredibly popular (not that I'm comparing it to S, the route that they took - releasing it in the alpha - was a sure winner. Heck, I bought MC in alpha because it was -50% off. And, I would surely buy this game at $10 if it was released in Alpha.. But this is in Beta.. so you know what I mean anyone else agree? Or am I just digging myself deeper ? xD

 

I just don't see why people are still arguing over the "best way" to do it and so forth. Tiy stated what is going to happen, IF there is even a beta, which they haven't even decided if they will do.

 

First I don't think anyone is saying the Devs are stupid, but just saying there might be flaws in some of the systems they have to choose from.

Second I think I get what your saying is sell the Alpha at a cheaper rate then the full game later, And that's cool if they go that route I am sure it will work out. But I think we were talking about the Non-open release for Bug Testing etc. Usually it is just the group of developers, and a few others. It's really only done to make sure everything is in working order etc, and usually does not last that long. (Maybe a month or two) After "Usually" it goes to a more open release for the General Public, and that would fall into the category of what your talking about. Games like this seem to stay in Beta for a long time after that, but that is up to them on the time scale. Nothing has been said on that (Alpha, Beta, or really any time related questions), so it is just a general guess of what might happen... So yes your digging yourself deeper.. j/k

Why do people discuss about what they are going to name their penguin? I don't know on that one, but if we are talking about testing things on these lines it is just a discussion like everything else. Do I think hey they should be reading this, no.. But with a line like Puppy's (or at least what I thought he ment) I had to say something heh

And about the Beta.. this is from the FAQ

What that means.. I am sure we could go on for another 20 posts, and who knows... Time will tell.. that I agree with ya 100%

 

Well played sir. I guess I'm just being too greedy for me, and the forum's own good
but whatever, I'm glad I got some genuinely intelligent feedback

- edit - And no, there is no "best way" to handle it, it's just me wanting to get my grubby mitts on this awesome-looking game

 

As long as the people who joined the forum just to be part of it don't start spamming useless posts to try and be "counted" for it I see no problem.

 

Well thank you for being so reasonable! When I first read the FAQ post about the beta, I thought like you did. But now I realised that counts are unimportant and 100 spammed posts can never measure up to a good, reasonable, friendly and helpful post! I apologize if I ever seem to have posted one of the former, I like to be brief!

And besides, beta-testing is a lot of hard work. Many papers to fill out and stuff.

 

Honestly with all the talk about beta-testing, I would just forget about it. This might sound a bit pessimistic, but think about it this way.. If you don't expect it, and they choose you based on your merits then you will be pleasantly surprised, also you won't be doing the things what you think they "Expect" you to do just for the sole reason (The wrong reason) of trying to get into the Beta. So when the game finally does come out hopefully you will stay around and continue to be part of the community.

Now for a bit of truth.. Unless they just do a General Public release.. chances are a lot of people won't be chosen. Whether they "Deserve" it or not.. They just won't make the cut. I said this before but it is worth repeating. Getting your hopes up because you answered a question, or because you put out 100+ "Quality" posts isn't going to help anyone. Just do what you do, and hopefully that will be enough, and if not.. then all ya got to do is wait, and you will get the game when everyone else does.. Pretty good consolation prize if ya as me heh..

 

Even if that post sounded like it was a little bit "aimed" at me, I still agree with you. I never said, that when you post a lot of quality posts, you will get into the beta for sure. And even if so, it doesn't matter anyway. Joining the forums is not something you do to get a beta key. And I didn't join for a key, either. People should just enjoy their stay here, and be happy if fate presents them with something, nothing more, nothing less.

 

LOL.. Did it seem that way? Well sorry bout that, I meant it more of a general response of some (Hopefully) good ideas to follow more then a response to what you said. I did not mean to say/insinuate/Wink Wink.. Nudge Nudge (heh) that you said anything directly against this, or that this is the reason why you were concerned about being active.

I am glad you understand that being part of the forums is not something you do to get a beta key, and when it comes down to getting one I wish ya the best of luck at it (Though that really doesn't mean anything in the big picture of things). And my bad if I seemed to indirectly insult ya there, because that wasn't my intention.

heh.. to this I respond.. I hope people focus on the message.. not the messenger..

 

I wasn't sure and I'm easily offended. sorry for seeing things that weren't there!

 

I sort of hope that when they choose the beta testers they include tons of paperwork to sign and a way for themselves to track each testers build so they know who leaked it.
Multiple places in the builds info sending information on beta client use to their server would make it harder for a leaked release to happen.
I for one am sure I would be a bad beta tester as I would probably just ignore small bugs thinking that others would tell the devs about them lol plus the fact that I keep buying random indie games to play.
So many games so little time.

 

I see what you did there

 

I have reasons for not wanting to be in the beta pool, and if you consider them, you realize how right I am. When you're a beta tester, you join the game with the devs, who already know how to play the game. You're alone, maybe just you and a couple of the other beta testers. After you guys play for a week or whatever, you're now used to the game, but you can't talk about it with anyone. Now guess what? Once the game finally gets released, you've already poured a hundred, possibly even more hours into it. There's nothing to share now! Sure, if you're someone who likes being "in the know" then that's awesome, you get to be king know-it-all 101 who already figured out how to craft the Battleaxe of Triforce Awesome a month ago!

But then you realize how lonely it is. Everyone else gets to come together and enjoy a finished product, or rather, a more polished product. You, you had to deal with annoying frustrating bugs, missing graphics, and overall the "feel" of the game wasn't completed yet, and everyone else comes in when it's done, for total immersion. Yeah, you remember when that boss only had 30% of his animation graphics, he was pretty lame, but they get to see that boss in his full entirety and terror. Imagine fighting the Wall of Flesh, but without any sound effects, and every so often his animation totally bugs the fuck out. Welp, immersion gone!

Me, I wanna play the game when it's released with other people. Don't get me wrong, I'd be an amazing beta tester, but I don't want to do that at all, it would completely ruin the game for me. Once you've been a part of designing a game, you lose a lot of fun in the playing said game part. For that reason, I'll wait till it's out, and I'll buy the game once released.