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Topic: Age of Conan Beta (Read 112804 times)
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Nonentity
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Posts: 2301
2009 Demon's Souls Fantasy League Champion
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Yes, because the best way to beta test your game is to invite the people who have been giving you virtual blowjobs for 15 months.
To a point, that's a true statement. You don't want to go doing that, you want a mix of fresh faces and community people. The community guys are the ones that have been sucking on your teat for the past few months/years, and despite the fact that people say 'oh, I want the game to look as good as possible, I will point out every bug', the candy-coated vision of your game might cloud things that truly don't work. |
But that Captain's salami tray was tight, yo. You plump for the roast pork loin, dogg?
[20:42:41] You are halted on the way to the netherworld by a dark spirit, demanding knowledge.
[20:42:41] The spirit touches you and you feel drained.
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tazelbain
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Posts: 6603
tazelbain
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Undoubedly, they are going to try to get that crack team of beta-testers from Anarchy Online to continue the testing of the secret client.
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"Me am play gods"
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Hound
Terracotta Army
Posts: 162
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I can think of 4 beta tests I have been invited to without ever making a single post on the community forums.. For that matter I never even filled out a application to test Vanguard and got invited into beta 3.l I just registered on the boards the week they went up, then browsed the FAQ and deleted the link a week later when I saw what kind of community it was accumulating. I have a feeling that community managers just post crap like that to stir up more hits on the boards, that way when they hit up the boss for a raise they have bigger numbers to back it up with.
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Given the number of failures we've seen in MMORPGs, designers need to learn it's hard enough just to make a fun game without getting distracted by unnecessary drivel.
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Xuri
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Posts: 1199
몇살이세욬ㅋ 몇살이 몇살 몇살이세욬ㅋ!!!!!1!
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I don't see why inviting active forum members to the beta ahead of other "random signups" is such a bad thing. The people on those forums have basically helped hyped the game. "spread the message" to their friends and kept interest up for months, if not years. And no, I'm not talking about myself - my contributions on those forums have been meager at most.
And whether they post a message like that to "stir things up" or not - it still sends a signal to those active forum members that, "Hey! We value your continued support, here - have a cookie" and whatnot. *shrug*
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-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-
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MrHat
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7432
Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
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Yes, but it's a Beta Test. The original use was to test the beta client before release to work out bugs and broken game mechanics.
IMO - STOP CALLING IT A BETA TEST IF YOU ARE JUST USING IT TO HYPE YOUR GAME.
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slog
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8234
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Yes, but it's a Beta Test. The original use was to test the beta client before release to work out bugs and broken game mechanics.
IMO - STOP CALLING IT A BETA TEST IF YOU ARE JUST USING IT TO HYPE YOUR GAME.
There hasn't been a "Beta Test" of a MMOG since 1999 then. |
Friends don't let Friends vote for Boomers
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Morfiend
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Posts: 6009
wants a greif tittle
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Yes, but it's a Beta Test. The original use was to test the beta client before release to work out bugs and broken game mechanics.
IMO - STOP CALLING IT A BETA TEST IF YOU ARE JUST USING IT TO HYPE YOUR GAME.
There hasn't been a "Beta Test" of a MMOG since 1999 then. Thats not true. There hasnt been an "Open Beta Test" since forever. But WoW actually used their beta test to do beta stuff. Then they used their Open Beta as a stress test. |
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Nebu
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Posts: 17613
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Thats not true. There hasnt been an "Open Beta Test" since forever. But WoW actually used their beta test to do beta stuff. Then they used their Open Beta as a stress test.
Well, then you can explain why 90% of the bugs I reported during the closed WoW beta were still present when the game released. I'm certain that I wasn't the only one that reported them and many were common knowledge. It has been a LONG time since I was in a beta that was treated like a beta rather than a marketing ploy. 1) Most testers I chat with in recent titles don't even keep a log. 2) When encountering bugs while grouped it takes minutes of convincing to get people to even submit a simple bug report. 3) The forums are filled with so much hype that there's almost no constructive discussion of real issues. 4) Many testers will opt to keep exploits to themselves to gain an edge at release. Etc. |
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« Last Edit: April 12, 2007, 10:07:28 AM by Nebu »
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"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."
- Mark Twain
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slog
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8234
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Perhaps people need to accept that "BETA" doesn't mean what it used to and move on...
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Friends don't let Friends vote for Boomers
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HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42666
the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring
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And EQ2. And DDO.
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trias_e
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Posts: 1296
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This game interests me basically for one reason: No targeting.
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Lantyssa
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Posts: 20848
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A game needs a 'bug' feature for me to report anything. If I have to alt-tab to a browser to report something, I'm not going to bother.
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Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
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Venkman
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Posts: 11536
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Betas have been marketing exercises since DAoC. Sometimes information gets through the noise and the devs get it fixed. But most times if it doesn't get fixed it's because they've got more important things to work on.
It's fine. People think they're going to impact the foundation of a game three weeks before launch (as in LoTRO) are niave. At the same time, developers are forced to get vertical experiences and polish done even earlier lest the later beta testers who come because they got a code in PC Gamer see a bug and screen about it on YouTube.
To me, open betas are stupid unless they start when the game is about done anyway (as in LoTRO). As long as you don't tell players you're ignoring most of their niave comments, they believe they matter and you're free to benefit from them stress testing your launch client.
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Murgos
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Posts: 7474
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Betas have been marketing exercises since DAoC. Sometimes information gets through the noise and the devs get it fixed. But most times if it doesn't get fixed it's because they've got more important things to work on.
I've been in several closed betas from when the servers are only up a few hours here and there and most of the features are still being hashed out yet I still feel as though I cannot help the situation because no developer is going to listen to me explaining that what the game really needs is less formulaic diku mechanics. It's just not something they can do anything about by that point. Sure, I can be a good little monkey and bug glitches and typos and other specific functional errors but so can a 12 year old with a good supply of ritalin. I'm pretty much done with beta-testing I think. |
"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
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Strazos
Greetings from the Slave Coast
Posts: 15542
The World's Worst Game: Curry or Covid
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If the game has a built-in bug reporter, I'll use it sometimes. But if I have to open a browser, or go on the forums, fuck it.
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Fear the Backstab!
"Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion
"Hell is other people." -Sartre
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Trouble
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Posts: 689
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If the game has a built-in bug reporter, I'll use it sometimes. But if I have to open a browser, or go on the forums, fuck it.
Once again something that Blizzard/WoW excels at. In a WoW beta, whether it be for expansion or just the next patch, every single item, every single quest, and every single NPC has a report. You can either write a report or complete a poll for every single thing. |
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KallDrexx
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Posts: 3510
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IMO, I think the mass of players who sign for beta tests when all they really just want a sneak peak to the game is what caused the change in what beta tests really mean. Most players don't have any intention of actually participating for the good of the game, report bugs they find along the way, or even provide their feedback of the game to the developers. All they care about is "is this a game I would be willing to pay for at release," and usually the devs don't even get to know the direct answer to that question.
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Lantyssa
Terracotta Army
Posts: 20848
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To be honest, I kind of stopped caring when I reported things over and over, easy things, and nothing ever changed. I realize there are priorities, but there reaches a time when it is pointless to try and help if it is always ignored. (50/30/20 for a freakin' year! A display error that would take all of 30 seconds to fix.)
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Hahahaha! I'm really good at this!
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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It's just not something they can do anything about by that point. That's the problem. To REALLY affect that, you'd need to be in their office while they're working on their pitch to management/publisher/VC :) By the time a playable build is available, it's a diku or not, with it only getting completely rebuilt, canned, or launched as the only options. As to reporting stuff, the earlier I'm in the more I report. If I'm in a month before launch though, I assume everything relevant has been noted. This isn't because I truly believe there's stuff not reported. It's because by then the live team's task list is so long it'll take them months to dig out anyway. Nothing says they can't pull a SWG and delete the entire bugs list for being so bloated as to be useless. |
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Margalis
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Posts: 12335
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Most companies have forgotten what beta is supposed to be.
A beta test is when you have a small number of known issues but beyond that you think everything is working correctly, although you allow that issues will pop up.
If you put out a "beta" with a ton of known issues it isn't a beta. Beta is supposed to be largely retail quality but without the confidence factor. Also when you put out a beta with tons of obvious problems it really dissuades people from filing bugs because you haven't demonstrated any interest in fixing obvious problems. It's kind of an insult to ask people to "test" your game when you've given it to them with hundreds of simple issues.
With MMORPGs most beta tests are really alpha tests, and the finished product is the beta.
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vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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Merusk
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Posts: 27449
Badge Whore
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Most companies have forgotten what beta is supposed to be. Most companies, or most game companies? And how does that not mesh with the rest of the observations you professional coders have mentioned about games in general over the years? I've always gotten the distinct impression from you pros that game companies are 'amateur hour' when it comes to software development. Not adhering to standard terms and pushing buggy shit just seems to go hand-in-hand with that idea. |
The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
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Margalis
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Posts: 12335
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Most game companies, although in the software world it is getting worse with people like google putting out perpetual beta products that people actually use.
When your final product is beta quality (in the case of many MMORPGs) calling testing beta is humor.
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vampirehipi23: I would enjoy a book written by a monkey and turned into a movie rather than this.
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Cadaverine
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1655
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I think it's fanboys on the forums that turned me off of bothering to voice my opinion during beta tests.
The devs not listening is a close second, but being attacked by a crowd of rabid jackals because I dared suggest their game de jour is anything other than pure gold shat from the arse of Gawd himself is far more irritating than being ignored.
On the other hand, I did get to do my little 'I told you so' dance after EQ2, and VGs releases.
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Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
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Xuri
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1199
몇살이세욬ㅋ 몇살이 몇살 몇살이세욬ㅋ!!!!!1!
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To bring the topic back on AoC-track: In his blog, the Lead Designer for AoC - Ole Herbjornesn - talks alot about the upcoming AoC beta-test. He touches on topics such as bug-reporting tools, the various stages of the beta-test they'll go through (two-part at least, technical-test and content-test), as well as what they expect from the beta-testers. I found it an interesting read and it at least sounds like they're expecting more from this beta-test than just giving their potential customers a sneak peak. |
-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-
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Murgos
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7474
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The guys name is Ole Herb? Nice.
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"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
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Nija
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2136
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haha, good catch.
OLE HERB JORNESN, HE'S A SONOFABITCH! He goes about 8'3", 520.
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Xanthippe
Terracotta Army
Posts: 4779
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I like how Ole Herb talks about beta players - in contrast to - oh god who was it, who talked about beta like it was some grand privilege to beta test and who had a list of expectations that I would only ever agree to if someone was signing my paycheck. Was that the Vanguard guy?
Anyway, I like Ole Herb's approach - courteous, respectful, pleasant. How long before the players beat it out of him, do you figure?
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Nebu
Terracotta Army
Posts: 17613
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In his blog, the Lead Designer for AoC - Ole Herbjornesn - talks alot about the upcoming AoC beta-test. He touches on topics such as bug-reporting tools, the various stages of the beta-test they'll go through (two-part at least, technical-test and content-test), as well as what they expect from the beta-testers. I found it an interesting read and it at least sounds like they're expecting more from this beta-test than just giving their potential customers a sneak peak. It's easy to have expectations. Scary, but easy. I'll believe it when I see it. Considering the release of the last big Funcom MMOG, I should hope they do a bit more rigorous testing before opening this one up to the public. The AO opening day was a disaster only topped by WWIIOL. |
"Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other."
- Mark Twain
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Hoax
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Posts: 8110
l33t kiddie
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Ahh the AO beta/launch, fucking awesome. I still haven't completely forgiven my friend for being an agent at launch and just using the soldier shield nano to ultra level...
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A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual's morals are situational, then that individual is without morals. If a nation's laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn't a nation.
-William Gibson
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Xuri
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1199
몇살이세욬ㅋ 몇살이 몇살 몇살이세욬ㅋ!!!!!1!
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One of the game designers for AoC, Athelan (aka Jason Stone) has put up a page where people can submit questions that he'll reply to right there on the site: http://www.askathelan.com/faq/faq.php |
-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-
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Signe
Terracotta Army
Posts: 18942
Muse.
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One of the game designers for AoC, Athelan (aka Jason Stone) has put up a page where people can submit questions that he'll reply to right there on the site: http://www.askathelan.com/faq/faq.phpThis should be fun! Go Ahead and Ask
So... what are you wearing?
(Unanswered)
Category: About me
Asked on Saturday April 21, 2007 - 4:01pm
Powered by PHPAskIt v2.1 |
My Sig Image: hath rid itself of this mortal coil.
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Venkman
Terracotta Army
Posts: 11536
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Ya know, AoC tops my list for 2007, mostly because of the game, but also because I really want to see Funcom shed the disaster that was AO launch. They deserve the comments they got for that fiasco, which sucked even by then standards. AoC will launch over six years after AO. Even SOE has changed in that time.
Here's me optimistic.
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ScottTheKing
Terracotta Army
Posts: 4
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AOC it look gud. it look very very gud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 i signed up 4 teh beta i hope i get in it + i hope u get in it 2. i dont think tehre will be naked ladys in it tho no no no no no!!!!! ok there mite b but i dont think so.
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Strazos
Greetings from the Slave Coast
Posts: 15542
The World's Worst Game: Curry or Covid
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Sweet Buttfucking Christ...
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Fear the Backstab!
"Plato said the virtuous man is at all times ready for a grammar snake attack." - we are lesion
"Hell is other people." -Sartre
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Xuri
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1199
몇살이세욬ㅋ 몇살이 몇살 몇살이세욬ㅋ!!!!!1!
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This should be fun! Go Ahead and Ask
So... what are you wearing?
(Unanswered)
Category: About me
Asked on Saturday April 21, 2007 - 4:01pm
Powered by PHPAskIt v2.1 He has replied :P So... what are you wearing?
A Funcom T-shirt and some jeans.
Category: About me
Asked on Saturday April 21, 2007 - 4:01pm |
-= Ho Eyo He Hum =-
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