Why I think that the beta should be nearly completely closed...

I wholeheartedly agree with the OP, Keep the game in the dark obviously have some sort of content and media released but nothing that gives away too much information, when the game comes out the players will have to find out what & how things work instead of knowing before playing let them plunge into the darkness and essentially the players will be in the same boat as the players characters for the first play through.

 

Well, Tiy has announced that beta testers are going to be chosen by involvement in the forums, so it will probably be a very tight beta.

 

Part of the reason i dont usually frequent unreleased games forums is exactly due to what the OP said, i dont like getting "spoilers" when it comes to what i can do and what i can't do with the stuff i have at my disposal, and thinking a bit about it, i think there could be a small solution to it:
For the fully fledged beta, only allow a certain amount of levels to be generated, or the levels generated are always the same, and keep a more closed beta with these features unlocked, that way a trusted user (decided by the dev team or whoever) can beta test the game without any issue, and the devs dont have to "fear" that content will be leaked, while the people who are in "open" beta, can share what they've seen, but in no way does it mean it will be the same on release day.

I hope i made myself clear about it, if needed let me know and i'll try to rephrase.

 

I disagree. Just because you find enjoyment in being surprised doesn't mean the rest of the world does. You realize a beta is a testing phase and not a sneak peak demo, correct? Larger sample of players the better chance we will have a stable game at release. I'll take that over your mystery fetish any day.

 

This is the point that has changed my WHOLE opinion on the matter. My want for a stable game way over powers my need for it to be a Starbound virgin when it releases.... either way though, it will be a closed-ish beta... only the active members on the forum will get keys.

 

Lacking a beta test would mean the entirety of bug testing and such would be left to the dedicated, worthy, but small team that Tiy has put together. The purpose of the beta test is to get many people with different computer systems, internet connections, playstyles and abilities to stomp all over the game to find out the little things that are wrong that the Devs, who are invested in the game, may have overlooked. Without a beta test, the final release of the game could have some unforseen bugs that then require quick patchwork on the Devs' part, and make for a not-so-smooth release, which gives the company a bad name and makes customers lose faith in the developers. A beta test assures a smooth, strong release.

 

I am guessing that the beta will be open only to 50 or so of the top posters here, to keep it closed, yet have enough people to find the bugs in it

 

I'm praying it's not going to be based on post-count at all. Post count tells nothing of the person's intelligence, competence, devotion to the testing regimen, etc.

I have faith in the Devs having more foresight than that.

 

I HIGHLY doubt it will be purely based on post count... Post boosting would ruin everyone's chances then. I bet people will still start post-boosting now anyways though... But nah, Tiy wouldn't do that to us

Edit: this means that for those of you who are posting like wildfire now...yeah, YOU. It won't help you... lol

 

Let's not ignore all of the Betawants (people who joined purely to get in beta) that have been springing up today! I'm suprised this post isn't flooded with them already!

 

That's why the best way to get in the beta will be to not ask to be in the beta. So all the people joining just to be in the beta have already ruined their chances!

 

The only thing that came from that tweet was forum flooding :< He could have just not said anything but I guess he wanted more people on here

 

So basically what this post is about is because one person has fun in one way means everyone else should as well. Is the mystery fun? Sure, I think so. But does that mean I would rather wait a year or two to play the game until every little additional piece of content has been put in and everything has been patched and fixed up? Nope. For me personally, I would rather play what is available and have that wonderful sense of discovery now, and with each additional content update, experience it again and again. It stretches it out much longer as more and more things are added to the game instead of overwhelming me as a player. But that is just my opinion.

 

:<
I know you are thinking about "Minecraft" beta, but that really isn't what it is normally like.
Beta is where you take a sample of the player base and have them play your game to find any bugs and report them
The beta development cycle is something that is very important for the game, so it will be released smoothly
Not just a chance for some people to play this game before others

An "open beta" is where anyone who pays to play can
this is not what is going on with Starbound

 

My thoughts exactly and what I've said in a few other places already. I want to have the enjoyment of discovering things myself for the first time. If there was any kind of public beta there would be no way that I could spend any time on the forums and not find out just about everything the game has to offer before it was released.

P.S. A lot of people seem to assume that every game should have a huge public beta and devs should fix things as they go along, rather than polishing it first and then releasing it as a complete product. I'm looking at you for this Minecraft.....

 

Totally agree! lets keep the game a suprize till release.

 

God damn it, why couldn't this thread have stayed dead?

 

I think some people are starting, slowly, running out of ideas for discussions to discuss.

 

Well that bump really helped. [/troll]

 

My bad....... Didn't notice the date, I was just looking at the most commented on threads. Meh, it's probably worth some people reading this anyway though and it's worth the discussion still really.