Those Against A Beta and Pro Release Date

Oh crap, it's mister specialpants here, he's utterly untouchable. How DARE anyone disagree with their opinions, that would be insulting and cause the world to edge closer to Ragnarok!

 

"if you don't like it, just leave" is not how things work on the internet. You post your opinion, be prepared to get opinions back. Besides, you basicly called me a greedy, selfish bastard in the OP, and then you tell me that you only want a calm and collected discussion? Yeaaah... Riiiiight....

 

Oh god...Oh god hold me. My sides!

Ah thanks, I don't think I've laughed this hard for quite some while.
Funny though, you are so 'amazing' yet couldn't counter a single argument. And before you go 'I don't read everything I must have missed it' Here it is.

No arguments, no alternatives, no attempt at communication. Just some lines of you complaining about how everyone that doesn't agree 'is just being selfish and wants to get their paws on the game.' and 'is getting uneasy and greedy.'
This post is simply disgusting.

Instead of going 'I am best, worship me' Try establishing a proper conversation. Pros, cons and why you feel that the cons way heavier than the pros. THAT is how you discuss something. Not this...this...whatever it's supposed to be.

Continuing on your...'post', I'd also like to discuss your last sentence, I will do so below in the rest of my post below.
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/rant off

Back on topic:
I do think that both pre-orders as a beta weekend will be beneficial to both the funding as the overall completion of the game. details below.

Cons:
Let's start of with the cons.
- Firstly I've heard that some people fear that people pre-ordering the game or beta-testing it will think it's the actual game. While I highly doubt this myself as the opposite could easily be proven, it should still be considered as a negative point.

- Then there is the 'excitement burn out'. Waiting for a game brings a certain anticipation. This anticipation will rise over time as the release date gets closer and closer. However should there be a Beta-test that starts too soon, it might stop this rising tide of anticipation and might even go as far as to brining it back to near 0 because people are playing an unfinished product, which might not live up to their expectations. On this point to, I will have to say, I disagree. I believe that a Beta-test can give people a first glance, and can make them even more enthusiastic and filled with ideas than to simply debate about it.

- Lastly, badmouthing and general hating. Now of course there are going to be people that dislike this game yet there are always those that take it to far and giving these people a beta might indeed backfire. I do wonder though: what carries more weight? a hundred posts of hate or a thousand posts of constructive criticism? If people want to hate they are easy to remove and ban so why fear them?


Pros:

- Not only will pre-orders bring it money, the very act of starting to let people pre-order will make people more interested. Why read up on something if it's unsure when it's ever going to come out. Instead you know you could pre-order it right this instant, and as such would be more inclined to read up on it. Of course as mentioned earlier, this might also scare of people as the product itself neither perfect nor complete. As I mentioned before though: I doubt the majority of the people are this stupid, especially not when a gigantic sign/piece of text tells them otherwise.

- Secondly there is the case of the amount of Beta-testers. Assuming the last/current Beta test had about 200 people, only 1% of the current forum members would have to pre-order to reach that number, thus doubling the beta team. This is not even counting extra percentages of forum members pre-ordering nor the enormous amount of people that are not registered on the forum. While this group may be harder to control, it's also a group that will play because it wants the game complete, not merely because they were given the choice. Now, I'm not saying the initial group of friends and family isn't enthusiastic or driven, I'm just stating that the group of driven people could be expanded many-fold. This group would take the game apart piece by piece. It would test it's limits, explore it's boundaries. In short: They would test the living hell out of it. As such a ton of time will be saved searching, which can be spent testing.

- Thirdly there is the power of word to mouth. Once either (or both) pre-ordering and Beta-testing goes life people can start telling others about it, either to get them to pre-order it or because they have played it for a while and now can have more in-depth discussions concerning the game. Once something like this takes of in full the possibilities increase a thousandfold.

- Lastly, you stated: "If people actually wanted to help game development, they wouldn't demand to play the game, they would actually donate to the production team through purchasing Wanderlust." Now, apart from the fact that this is extremely narrow minded, it is also utterly and completely wrong.
- 1: There is no 'one' way to help game development. It can range from thinking up ideas, to helping with the programming itself and everything in between.
- 2: This includes both Beta-testing as well as Pre-purchasing, for reasons explained above.
- 3: I didn't buy Wanderlust. Does this mean I don't want to help Starbound? Of course not, only a fool would imply something like that. I tried Wanderlust. I didn't like it. Ergo I didn't buy it. If Company X sells product Y for charity Z I'm not going to buy product Y. Why not? Because if I wanted to support charity Z i'd do so directly, and the same applies here. I don't like Wanderlust, so why should I spend money on it? I understand why they did it this way, I simply don't much care for it though. If given the option to directly donate or to pre-order I would do so without a second thought.

- 4: I have no idea if you simply didn't think about that line or if you really are this ignorant but by the gods either way it shows. Money? Money is now the factor defining whether or not you help the Starbound production team? I think I don't have to explain why this is a piece of <beep> As said before there are a ton of ways to help and there are people who simply can't afford it. And here you come stating 'You don't have money, so you can't and don't want to contribute anything'. The stupid simply hurts. Congratulations, you have officially made the most infuriating post I've seen so far.

So in short, I do believe that both pre-orders and Beta-testing should be used to their full extent. My suggestion would be to have Pre-orders that would allow beta access every weekend (Friday to Sunday). This way it remains beta testing and not simply playing. It also allows time in between to update and patch, thus giving a clear overview on results and improvements of these patches.

So extra money, a larger test team and more word to mouth.

The very last thing I'd like to ask is why people keep making new threads about this. There are already a ton of other threads and this just spreads the information and solutions and enhances the chances of just repeating what has been said earlier instead of thinking of new ideas.

 

My favorite part of this thread is where people try to use Minecraft as a example against having a beta. Minecraft "weeklies" and pre-releases are the only reason Minecraft releases are *mostly* stable compared to how terrible it used to be. The massive support for the game in its alpha and beta stages is the only reason Notch was able to quit his job and work on the game full time, leading to the wildly successful release of 1.0. The bug tracker being used with the weeklies/pre-releases right now is a fantastic system that the devs have stated multiple times as a godsend. Just because a handful of people will always be the type to only want a beta to play early, does not offset how much help a beta/bug tracker is to a indy development team. How could there possibly be a argument against bug testing? No matter what you preconceived notions about betas are, I can assure you they are not just excuses to play the game early, and even the most annoying complainers are helping report bugs, no matter how entitled they sound while doing it.

Whether or not this game will have a beta is in the hands of the developers, who are in the only position to make the call whether it would be a good idea or not for this particular game, considering they would be the ones using the feedback. Only they could decide whether or not it would be worth it to establish a proper beta release and bug tracker and all the time that goes along with such a system.

That being said, people in this topic arguing against betas in general for games, claiming they don't help and only bring out complainers... You're wrong. No, it's not a matter of your opinion, betas are a pre established thing in the software (and hardware) industry, and have proven themselves umpteenth times.

 

what ever happens, happens. Not for or against anything. I'm just going for the ride.

 

Geez yet another thread. Let's stop beating the dead horse and just wait.

 

I find it interesting people keep popping in and whining about there being another thread. Exactly why are you here? You are just feeding the fire. If you really don't like it, suggest it to be locked and such. It is probably getting close to dying anyway.

 

not only that, the creator of this game has specifically said he LOVED the time of weekly updates for minecraft and will copy that model.

 

If this is your point of view then why are we wasting our time on the forums???
Let's just all shut up and never login to share our opinions...

,, I don't see how anyone is qualified to say differently” - Are you qualified to say this???

 

ouch, that's a nasty burn, would you like some water on that?

 

Yes, I am. Nobody here has a hand in development, and therefore has no idea what is best for the game. The only people qualified to make the call are the people making the game, which is true; plain and simple. Feel free to tell the developers that they don't have a handle on their own game though.

Just because you are wasting your time on the forums doesn't mean that I am. Sharing opinions is all well and good, but this is just a bunch of finger pointing. Go post a suggestion, provide some feedback, or do something constructive.

The compound from an aloe plant is far more effective for treating burns than water, and if I ever wanted some I would just take it from one of my plants, thanks.

However, as I feel no burns, I will pass regardless.

 

Finally someone understands the purpose of this thread.

 

You say that, yet you created a thread which seems to be telling the devs that a beta is a bad idea. It doesn't agree with what you've quoted at all and I'm confused as to how you think even remotely does.

 

Where do I tell the devs that it is a bad idea? This thread is a discussion thread and clearly implies for people who agree with me to post. Anyone else just posts on their own.

 

open beta is a win win
we get to play it a bit early
and chuckle fish gets feedback on bugs glitches and balance
while i would be happy with a preorder im just saying theres no reason to oppose an open beta

 

Oh no right, you just happened to make a thread about open betas being a bad idea, and you ask that ONLY PEOPLE THAT AGREE WITH YOU respond, and that this thread isn't at all made in the hopes that a Dev will see it and take its message to heart.

Riiiiiiigggghhhht

 

Well yeah. Because he's too stuck up and arrogant to consider the idea that anyone who disagrees with him matters.

 

A tad extreme don't we think?

No. The origin of this thread was actually because there was a thread for those who supported the beta, this thread is for those who are opposed. Quite simple.

 

...The irony is a few meters thick here. You are actually saying that 'yes, people do not have any business discussing ideas up to the devs' ...Then why make the thread? I also can't help but notice you still didn't answer my post, which pretty much means I've 'won' already. Just stop posting then.

 

Here's a fun thought, there 's not going to be an open beta whether or not you were for it or against it. Plain and simple. No one on these forums are going to get a chance to play this game for another year or so, the hype will die, no one is going to have an early look at the game, and all we will have left is a record of inane forum posts that no one of any importance will even look at.