Betatester

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » September 4th, 2006, 12:49 pm

Same as Gallifrey.. I don't want play the game before it's finished and polished, even though I'm one of the magic first 12 members

On top of that I wouldn't have the time to test anything:/

Del137 · Post by **Del137** » September 5th, 2006, 10:41 am

hmm, why not make beta purchaseable for like 10$?

half serious, but
so you may be sure those who get it - real testers, wishing to help you make these game better...

PS sad you dont choose me as betatester o_O

Gallifrey · Post by **Gallifrey** » September 5th, 2006, 10:42 am

$10 is a deal, considering so many games come out now in beta form for full price

Sanctus · Post by **Sanctus** » September 6th, 2006, 9:55 am

Well I think that 10$ is kinda to much to help you with betatesting....
If that price will have to be paid then I would think 2 times before paying...
I will however pay for the full one (btw how much will it cost?)

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » September 12th, 2006, 7:59 am

Gallifrey wrote:$10 is a deal, considering so many games come out now in beta form for full price

You're right but releasing a beta for 10$ doesn't really help in getting rid of that problem:/

corwin · Post by **corwin** » October 5th, 2006, 1:17 am

As someone who has done quite a lot of beta testing, let me re-iterate what a few have mentioned. Beta testing can totally ruin the final version for you, as you can get totally sick of the game playing parts over and over again. Just be aware of this before you volunteer. On the other side though, it can be fun!!

GSV3MiaC · Post by **GSV3MiaC** » June 14th, 2007, 5:27 pm

Gallifrey wrote:$10 is a deal, considering so many games come out now in beta form for full price

Ah yes, another Gothic 3 player, I recognise the complaint. Lol.

Actually beta testing is damn hard work (and 6 hours a day is just barely enough - 6 hours playing maybe, but then you have bug reports, screen shots, documentation etc. to do). Remember you're on the critical path, unless the developers are backlogged with bugs already (if there are no bugs, then the release date is 'as soon as the beta testers finish the game and say no bugs'.)

It's fun, but it's not quite like playing the game. The third time you have to start from scratch because the data structure has changed... Actually it's only fun if the developers have half a clue, and listen to the feedback - if I had been a beta tester on G3 I'd have cut my throat and certainly wouldn't have wanted my name on the 'release'.

A wrinkle (probably too late to suggest) but developers OUGHT put some number of known (non fatal) bugs INTO the program, just to see how well the beta testers are doing. (If the developers put 10 bugs in and the beta testers spot 3 of them, you can bet a lot of real bugs have been missed too). (This is called 'be-bugging', as opposed to 'de-bugging').