Pre-order/beta thoughts

PLEASE READ BEFORE ANSWERING IN A POLL​

Like probably everyone knows Tiy was thinking about pre-order with beta access option, but he was (and maybe still is) hesitant about it. I was thinking about all dev teams that had the same problem and start wondering "why people are afraid to make something similar to pre-order beta thing?".

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The most cases say "people can judge unfinished game." but who rates game when it's in beta? I heard mostly one answer - stupid ones. Some can think it's offensive attitude but almost everyone knows it's true (think different - isn't it offensive attitude to judge game before official release?). Going further, why all dev teams afraids about them? They are everywhere, that's true. On the other hand there are people who knows what beta means and are ready to help in developing their "future favourite games". Some are against playing games before their official releases and this is also understandable, but they don't have to play games in beta, do they?



So the main purpose of this thread is:

What do you think about open beta?

Do you really think that people who don't know what beta is (lets call them just "haters") are really so important in deciding about releasing beta? If yes, do you really think that you can't do anything to new people interested in your "future favourite game" to ignore haters opinions?

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Do you really think that open beta will bother wise people who are against playing games in beta or they will just be happy that someone is helping to make official release come faster?

Do you really think that people who are interested in open beta won't help dev teams to finish it faster by finding bugs and solutions for known ones?

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Do you really look only at haters opinion when thinking about buying game and do you really belive much more in negative opinions without look deeper?



It would be sin if i haven't quote Seria-Myouna:

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"I think that beta access with pre-order would be a good idea. Interested people will be willing to overlook any bugs they encounter and would be motivated to report them to help the game be finished faster"

i'm sorry for my english, but i hope you understand what i was trying to say.

 

If they wanted something tested, the fasted way is with a group of Beta testers. I can understand why someone wouldn't want to put out anything but a full game but I'd love to spend my time helping to further a project I care a great deal about. No one expects to suddenly get input when you beta-test, and if some one does he is wrong. This is like doing community work: free of charge. For in the end we are the community, we want to see the good as much as the bad.

The bad because that means there is something that can be improved or needs work.

The good because it shows us how far the project has come.

We want to see both because we love a game and would like to help if needed.

 

So you think that any kind of open beta in games like Starbound will destroy excitement of people and game won't go viral? I would agree in some cases but not Starbound. With some games (i don't wanna say their names here) your arguments are really good but i don't think that game such varied and different each time played would goes viral no matter the circumstances of publication. Excitement - it would be a little different. That's true that all excitement won't be released at once but if you look closer you can notice that it will be like that for subgroups. One will be for beta testers (all at once will be so excited when they get access to beta) and the other one for people who prefer waiting and not helping in develpoing when the game is in beta.

Nice to know other opinions and be able to discuss

 

I must say I agree here. I believe that an open beta will only further the excitement and hype for the game, as you can already see something of the finished product and try out a few of the features, which in turn can spark an amazing inflow of ideas and suggestions. There are also always people that doubt whether or not to buy a game. An open beta could convince them that the game is actually worth their money.

If Starbound would go open Beta for one weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) it would allow enough time to actually test something, while not nearly enough time to see even 15%-20% of what the game has to offer. There will be more than enough left to get hyped over, even more so once you know what to expect.

 

Part of me says they should release it this instant because i want it now!!!! But the other part of me says they should just wait till its ready so we dont have idiots and stupid people comentate on beta issues that lead to the comminity over run with fuck this game threads i trust chucklefish and think what ever they churn out will be quality but being new to the game development studio wise as a team under the chucklefish brand name there will be naysayers who will get the beta and not give them a fair shake . I dont think this should stop them how ever i feel whatever chucklefish decides will be the right decision

Because faith isnt about praying and getting what you want all the time as a result

Its about believing in something so strongly that the belief empowers you to make progress and take steps in the right direction to hopefully achieve your desired affect

 

I think that people don't read and just download a game thinking its a finished product.

I think that wise people wouldn't be bothered about other people doing something they enjoy.

I think that they would, but with an open beta the number of people who are interested in helping vs the number just playing is a problem.

I think that first impressions are the most important. The game could turn out really awesome, but if you played it once a while ago and it was unfinished/glitchy you'd be much less likely to recommend it or try it again.

 

I'd rather not have an open beta.
A closed beta, is good enough, in my opinion.
Better to release all of the features at once, as well as the excitement.

 

You poor people suffering from excitement burnout.

You pooor poor people *gives you all a pat on the head and a cookie with milk* Patience is a virtue!

 

You think they would BUY the game without knowing it's beta?

 

Given how many people just click links that end up in front of them, I wouldn't be surprised.

 

personally i would rage of all the noobs without proper english skills who would ask the most dumb questions in the wrong place.

but that's just me.

 

I love open beta testing. The concept, not necessarily open beta testing for starbound.

I like closed betas as well, and starbound has a LOCKED-TIGHT beta going on right now.

My personal opinion is that starbound will benefit more from releasing all at once, and then later releasing content updates.

That being opposed to having a long-term open beta with minor updates. That way, every time there's a new release, it gathers the attention of the crowd already playing the game, and possibly a new one.

That's my two cents on the matter.

 

Yes, developers should be hesitant when released betas to the general public. Because today, the definition of beta has been stretched to more than just testing, a large amount of people just assume it's early access. Also, playing a game that isn't complete lessens the experience you get. You're playing an incomplete story with incomplete features and incomplete mechanics, all of which can sully your experience in a game forever.

I know for sure I would have liked minecraft or terraria MUCH better if I had played them when the devs considered them "Complete".

 

I think that the main origins for the community's concern are related to the fact that there's a difference between 'beta' and 'wanting early access to the game' which is in risk of fading.

Betas are for testing, trying out bugs, have plenty of room for suggestions, etc. However, it seems that many people merely want beta access to get their hands on the game earlier - and that's not really how I believe it should be, as it can lead down some dark roads - disappointment, negative reviews/publicity, lack of interest, among others. Some patience will go a long way and be quite rewarding in the end, both to the community as well as the developers.

Nevertheless, the concept of Beta is a good one and to have it work properly, I think a smaller, trustworthy group would be more successful than all of those who are willing to pre-order. Perhaps the developers could open up subscriptions and a selected few, trustworthy community members (such as moderators), would be allowed to try out the Beta, with the purpose of providing community feedback. Those individuals could share their experiences in the forum, post pictures and so forth and everybody together could debate about the issues that may rise. Just an idea. :alien:

 

This is my first message here so I'd like to say hi to the community first

About the beta, bugs are not a problem at all at the beta stage. Personally I am more that willing to help testing the game and I will surely preorder when its available. Haters are not a serious problem here becase they will be anyway, even when the game is released. It's more like a state of mind, a newbie gets himself killed and starts posting 'what a lame' etc.

So don't hesitate and please give us the beta as soon as it's ready! I almost regret that I've learned about it so early.

 

I'd have to agree here, mostly because I had the exact problem with Castle Story, I was an Atomic backer on Kickstarter, got the game began playing it. However the game was in such a horrible state it made it unplayable. You'd builders would get permastuck, in my case I couldn't save or load a game, so I had to start fresh everytime. And if I lost builders due tot he bug or had something glitch I had to restart the whole process. I've beta tested for alot of games, I've done alot of work on coding and game designing myself. But the game was in such a horrible state when it was released, alot of people, myself included lost alot of interest in it, because our first response was so incredibly distasteful, and the first patch didn't address alot of the issues tehy had. I have since stopped checking on the game, and I'll wait until it's a few patches in before I go back to it.

If a game has a beta and it's not ready for one, it will ruin the game completely. This is true of any game, in Castle Story's case, alot of people couldn't even play, each DL seemed to have seperate issues that re-DLing didn't fix. I couldn't save or load, in a game where it can take hours to build any decent sized structure. There was alot of duplication glitches, alot of glitches where your builders. (Of which you started with 5) would get stuck or permanently lost etc. This made it so the game was next to impossible to bug test, because all of the bugs were happening as you started, and their first patch wasn't up to par. If Starbound is release and this happens? It'll destroy the game, they don't have a Kickstarter going, I'm worried that if he take such a huge risk and it goes bad, they'll be dead in the water. For a game like this, I'd strongly recommend that they wait until it'sr eleased, until there are virtually no bugs on their end. Because players will ALWAYS find a bug in a game it just happens. However so long as the bugs aren't crippling people can still enjoy the game, and don't mind playing it to give feedback. A bug where it stops you from playing except getting through the title screen, makes to many people quit and say the game just isn't worth playing.

 

OP's bias in the poll is obvious

 

What ever you say do or think there is always going to be haters. Such is life. Have to take the good with the bad. I think having an open beta available for those who pre-order the game would be a good decision especially for the devs. In the sake that out side eyes can always be helpful. The devs have a lot on their plate and having an open beta will enable other people to test and report some bugs they are experiencing. To really give beta access to those who pre-order the game should filter out a lot of the haters.

 

your beliefs go hand in hand with mine kid i like to think of chuckle fish as a beginner sports team they may not have been together long enough to know exactly what makes each other tick but they realize they all have the same goal in the end to make it to the champion ship for chuckle fish this championship is releases day

 

Whoops, I accidentally voted for yes, and I don't think I can change the answer.
Anyways, I think starbound should come out with an open beta. It seems that the devs have lots to work on before the game is done, and having a beta would be nice.