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

I'd love for starbound o have an official alpha LP like Blue and Redigit before the game came out, because they spoke about things they changed and things they were going to add, I feel like that would make me want the game more and I would know the basics without any need for a wiki at the begining of my first time playing.

 

Right, but as G33K said, every game opens with discovery. I'd say it was an integral part of Minecraft that was championed by its design in the fact that there were no tutorials, only achievements to guide you.
Let's think about it the other way for a second. You're saying that replayability is important to a sandbox, and I agree wholeheartedly.
But since Starbound is a sandbox, that's not really something we have to worry about because we know (more or less) it'll already have that replayability.
I agree with you that items should have more uses than their original purpose, and I think that's exactly why we need to defend the sense of discovery of those new uses of items, and why uncontrolled testing would take that away on a large scale. At least until the game is shipped.

I agree and you have very good points.

Regarding surprises ruining things, of course it doesn't apply to every scenario and I had no intention of generalizing. In the context of a game with emphasis on exploration, however; I think discovery is important to some players.

Conversely, I acknowledge that there are players who would rather learn as much about the game as possible and have no problem making the discoveries about gameplay mechanics outside the game. They're not the ones I'm worried about, and I don't think that not having an open beta will change their minds about the game.

What you said about the open beta, I agree with. I don't have as much of a problem when the entire community has equal access opportunity. I don't think G33K does either.

I don't regard learning what the developers intend to tell you as spoilers so much as what other testers have to share that you might not get to experience yet, because as with any sandbox, people will be eager to experiment with gameplay mechanics.

That been said, I don't share your view of the forums being a place for spoilers, just as I don't think the bioware forums are a place for ME3 plot leak discussion. If it's an open beta, then that's fine, the mechanics are all on display and that's not really a spoiler. It would be just like you said.

In my opinion, this post is probably the most pragmatic and realistic outlook in this whole thread.



To tie all of this into my previous post, I think that an open beta wouldn't necessarily do harm because new community members would have equal access opportunity. The main issue I had is if part of the community has more access than the rest of it.

On the other hand, it's important to take into consideration the possible repercussions of full game access to everyone before the game is released. Is it a good thing, or is it a bad thing?

 

That is a very excellent point. The game does favor exploration from what we can see, and that may not be the absolutely best option if a large portion of the game was made for exploration and you knew too much. I'm kinda hoping that it will be hard with the random generation though.

As for your final question, the worst thing that can happen is people never buy the game if they have access to a beta client. Other than that, I would point to other companies that do public tests (Like Blizzard's World of Warcraft) as a great example: Anyone can public test patches, and the entire testing phase really brings out the worst bugs before the general populace suffers them.

 

No, the idea of saying each item should have a million uses, can you find one-hundred alone? maybe for one item if you focused on it, and then you have to consider combining items etc, you just can do it, or atleast alone. Do I need to refer to redstone? One person makes a compont, then the next a machine for it, then someone makes a better version of the compontent, and then someone uses it to make a better machine, and so on. And in this, a community forms and seemly infinate insterting gameplay can form, also removing the need for surpise.

 

Given that basically everything is being procedurally generated, the exploration/weapons/appearances would be different every time you played, regardless of what you saw beforehand. Sure some things would be the same, but not a whole lot.

 

A truly great game would not be spoiled by videos due to the fact that it would take hundreds of hours to reveal all the possibilities.

 

Right, but the mechanics would remain the same, as was mentioned. Terrain is procedurally generated in both Minecraft and Terraria, but the charm wears away eventually. Weapons in Borderlands are also largely randomized, but by the end of the game you stop being amazed by every gun you pick up that isn't unique and pre-designed or anomalously great.

It's not the fact that you can spoil every planet, creature or gun, but that by seeing enough varieties it may get old before you even get to play. While the possibilities remain endless, it doesn't mean that they're all going to be as exciting as the first few you find.

And again, this doesn't apply to every player, but it definitely applies to some, and even more who are not yet in the community or even aware of the game.

 

Then way do people still play minecraft and terraria to date?

 

You have a very good point.

 

I'm sure a lot of Starbounders will keep playing for the same reason: they're sandbox titles and the replayability, as you mentioned, is vast.

But the concern is people never giving them a chance because they feel that they know exactly what can be done in either title.

What I'm saying is that enough should remain unknown about the game that people will be willing to find out for themselves-- and that unknown should be controlled in such a way that they should be encouraged to buy the game.

 

Then I will ask you this, why did alot of people still buy terraria and minecraft, when so much has been spoiled?

 

Just because something is spoiled does not mean its not fun to play. Its the fact that when playing these people did not so much have the "what is this thing?" when they were playing. Removing an element of exploration from the game.

 

The point is, you don't have to watch videos, but somepeople, like myself, what to knew what am sinking my money into, virtul liquad gold, or mud.

 

When the game is released there would be lets plays for that anyway. You cant argue that a pre-beta thing is necessary, nor can you argue that it shouldn't be done. It up to how Tiy/the devs feel about it, and if they want to open it to beta.

 

Those are the ones who decided to give it a chance. Of course, we don't have to worry about them. I'm sure a lot of them will try Starbound, too. There's no real need to appeal to them when they're already in the mindset that would give this game a try, right?


I think between the group of people who would not play Starbound because they knew too much and the people who would not play Starbound because they wanted to know more, the number of people in the first is definitely higher.

The second group would be alleviated upon game release by virtue that they can, like you said, look up as much information as they want when the game comes out. They're not stuck with infinite ignorance.

But there will be a set of people who may accidentally stumble on too much information before the game's release, just because they were eager to know a bit more about it and ended up with a lot more knowledge than they bargained for. I mentioned in one of my posts, people judge rather quickly. You can't simply un-know something.

 

Some more food for thought. Note that none of this is talking about the testing aspect of the beta, simply the information given by it! If we were to go strictly by testing then the idea of 'information for the community' is moot.

I think we can broadly put everyone into four groups:

1. You have part of the community who wish to have as little information as possible.

2. You have part of the community who wish to have as much information as possible.

3. You have part of the community who could care less about the information.

4. You have the people who are not part of the community who may not show more interest until they have enough information, and whether their own personal limit for information has been reached.


I would say that groups 1-3, having already shown interest in the game, would not have a priority on information. Very few people in either of the three groups will be truly affected: Not many people are going to say, "I will not play this game because I (know too much/know too little)".

The fourth group, however, is the silent majority, and are the ones that NEED to be satisfied. If they are not drawn in, then the game will not be as big as it could be, or less. They are the ones who need the information, not us.

EDIT: Fix

 

Ok. I thought about this and here is my idea.

The devs do a lets play, but don't get very far. (EoC terraria equivalent) and stop. they don't talk about much, only stuff within their immediate reach. This way the players have a base of what the game will be like, an understanding of basic concepts and wet appetites making them seek for more. maybe 30 other people will get to play but they will be monitored on youtube and on the forums to make sure they don't ruin the experience of the adventure. Sure, we should get some teasetrailer images but nothing past the first bits of the game.

This way, Starbound will be known at release, discoveries will have to be made at release, and everyone will want it.

 

The hugest part of this game, moreso than most sandbox made games, is that even IF someone reveals a multitude of information on the forums, or youtube, or a spoiler website, they cannot possibly ruin the entire game for someone. You might end up seeing the different types of planets, perhaps a few UIs and a few different creatures. Maybe different types of armor, etc. But the most important part - you did not earn that armor. You did not kill those aliens, and you did not colonize that world. What's the big problem if you read a spoiler with this type of game? Are you going to say "Oh, that armor is in the game. Well I guess I've seen it, no reason to play."? If so, chances are this isn't the kind of game you'd enjoy -anyway-.

Sandbox games breed adventure. Especially in a game such as this where so much is left up to procedural generation, one can't possibly spoil everything. Any spoilers that might pop up would only, as said above, serve to whet the appetite of those who read it. One might see a cool version of the rocket launcher, or a neat alien race, then strive to try to find those (Good luck) in their own game.

The worst that could be done is the storyline gets revealed and we all know the ending. That's about as cataclysmic of a spoiler there could be. And honestly, even if that happened, I'd still play through the whole game to experience it for myself.

Having someone reveal stuff about the game to you and deciding that's ruined for you is like having someone describe to you a roller coaster ride then deciding since your friend told you all about it, you don't need to go on that ride yourself anymore.

 

This. So much this.

 

Same here. It's just the idea of the community getting together and figuring the majority of the stuff out by themselves that appeals to me. I, personally, stalk forums and dev blogs to find spoilers about a game, but I want most of this game to surprise me but I really want spoilers. I will buy the game, day of release, no matter what.
Docter G33k's idea appeals to me though because it would be like a community scavenger hunt. I think a lot of the 70ish people before me will agree.