Topic

Beta Part 2

In another thread WindBorn posed this question:
Could there be a "beta" part of the world when we go live?  An area that is clearly fenced off as "under development", and lets brave souls test and break to their hearts content, without actually affecting the game?  I'd love to continue to test things. 


Funny, I was wondering the same thing last night. Maybe something is in the air. 

Posted 18 months ago by Riverwalker Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I love the concept :)
    Posted 18 months ago by Hburger Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If only!
    Posted 18 months ago by Folderol Subscriber! | Permalink
  • count me in - if it ever does develop
    Posted 18 months ago by MzMunchken Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Not a good idea...

    I say this because beta is NOT prime time...and providing a "beta" area within a prime time game will give the impression that Glitch isn't rally ready for prime time.

    Besides, beta is to be gotten over and through - not to be lingering and lingering, etc etc
    Posted 18 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I always thought that games like this had special testers who continue to test new features as they come out, but that it was separate from the game.  I just assumed that though, not sure how it really works.
    Posted 18 months ago by Laurali Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have the same assumptions @Laurali
    Posted 18 months ago by Jepro Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Under same impression, there would be a test server for new introductions to the game.  Maybe the issue is calling the term "beta".  It would no longer be that once the game goes live.  It would simply be testing the "new stuff" before it goes "live".
    Posted 18 months ago by AlmostSilver Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't know about *most* games. EVE Online has a public test server that any player with an active account is invited to use. For players, it's a good place to experiment, and the dev team gets to test new features with active users.  It's completely separate from the production game. 
    Posted 18 months ago by Lelu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Most sites where I am active send out specific invitations to a small number of  users when they want to beta test a new feature.  Usually that requires a simple non-disclosure agreement, and a willingness to deal with things that don't work right all the time. 

    I'm suggesting a slightly different approach:  an open Beta "world" where anyone can initiate their own participation in the testing. 
    Posted 18 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Ah - completely separate from prime-time Glitch...and the URL not available publicly.

    I get it.

    :)
    Posted 18 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • At Faunasphere we did have a group of testers who would test things before they were added to the game.  This was started a while after the Game went Live.  I was not one of the testers so I don't know the details or how much the input from the testers was considered.  The tests were done in a separate area from the Game.  I did hear that input from the testers was sometimes ignored and that some of the problems they found remained when the new content was added (oops!).
    Posted 18 months ago by Brib Annie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love the concept of participating in a separate test world, where we can test every experimental features the devs introduce. I wouldn't mind even if most of the ideas don't make into the main game. 
    Posted 18 months ago by gia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • testing while live most likely won't work for here. It worked partly for FS because they put new stuff out every week or two and claimed they wanted feedback. In reality, they mostly did whatever they wanted and any bugs we found were either ignored or fixed and later popped up.

    Here, things will most likely be different. This system is so much more complex than FS was - so much more to load, lots of script. I seriously doubt an offshoot of TS people would create a test site and let some of us run around in there poking around.

    sorry :(
    Posted 18 months ago by bored no more Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Testing while live will ALWAYS occur on a site that is constantly changing*.  I've been a beta tester for new features on live sites for years, that include some names you would all instantly recognize. 

    Unless the world never ever has any enhancements or changes after going live, there will be features that need testing before they are incorporated into the game world.  The usual pattern is that I get a private invitation to test out the new features a few weeks or a few months before they are added to the site. 

    During that time, I and the other testers use the site with the new features enabled, while most people are totally unaware that testing is occurring.  

    I'm suggesting that TS staff make it possible for players to request an invite to be part of an on-going testing group.  A group that plays in an alternative universe of Glitch where things are tried, critiqued, discarded and tweaked from time to time.  On one site (the one with the Les Paul guitar thingy today), there is a group of us who are automatically invited to test new things after they have been tested by the site's staff, but before they are released for the public. 

    The testing is going to happen.  Not everyone thrives on buggy, incomplete worlds where things are constantly breaking and/or changing.  Most people will prefer the stable, public-release version. But some of us just adore trying to break things.   I'm only suggesting that invitations be issued not just to hand-picked testers, but by players being able to say, "pick me!"

    *sites that don't change die. 
    Posted 18 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • " I did hear that input from the testers was sometimes ignored and that some of the problems they found remained when the new content was added (oops!)."

    I doubt it was being ignored.  Most of the time the programmers really WANT to fix the bugs, but can't because a release date for the game/content/expansion/whatever has already been announced and there simply isn't time to fix all of them.  Bugs are usually assigned a number indicating what priority they are to fix.  They'll get as far through the list as they can, but things that are priority 4 and 5 are almost always fixed after release, not before.
    Posted 18 months ago by Magic Monkey Subscriber! | Permalink
  • WindBorn, Thanks for sharing your experience. Since this is my first testing adventure, I really wasn't sure how these things worked. I do know this has been a blast. I hope your suggestion comes to pass.
    Posted 18 months ago by Riverwalker Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was one of the testers at FS once the game went live, though they reasoned that they couldn't make changes because the stuff was already written and uploaded (duh, so why have testers if you don't want to see what is buggy?) .  I think it is sound practice to have a group of folks who have signed off on a discloser notice try out possible new content as long as TS are truly looking for feedback on new items prior to releasing to general public.
    Posted 18 months ago by MzMunchken Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Could it be possible to keep the skills page up and running though? It'd be incredible to just be able to at least keep learning skills while the game is closed. My latest skill is going to be learned in 9 hours, and it'd be great to be able to set a new skill up to be learned tomorrow morning!
    Posted 18 months ago by Folderol Subscriber! | Permalink
  • EVE is pretty bad for obvious bugs or drastic balance issues being flagged and not followed up on. Last year they did a major economic rebalance that had glaring issues that they didn't patch. A buddy made a ridiculous amount off of it (a few hundred billion isk - where 360M gets you a month's playtime with a cash cost of $15) before they fixed it. A few years before that (Dec 07) they had a patch that deleted boot.ini, which was kind of an issue for anyone running XP! They'd been told but didn't realize the importance - they have a big problem in their staff understanding and passing along bugs to the devs & managers.

    So lets hope that TS takes their testers, whether its beta or ongoing upgrades/fixes, more seriously than CCP (the people behind EVE).
    Posted 18 months ago by Catari Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Didn't I read somewhere that the inventor of EVE go on to work for BF Games and create FS? No wonder FS failed. I am pretty new to beta testing. But the idea of Beta 2 sounds like a good idea to me.
    Posted 18 months ago by Miss Muffett Subscriber! | Permalink