Preorder and beta testing?

[Major_Day]

Since beta's are primarily for testing purposes, they should be closed sessions,open to invited people only, run on servers financed and controlled by TWI,(NOT some clan server where the clan members preferences are put before the good of the game,and the rest of the guys who aren't beta testers) DH anybody?

 

[Das Bose]

(NOT some clan server where the clan members preferences are put before the good of the game,and the rest of the guys who aren't beta testers) DH anybody?

Indeed! Such a shame too

 

[Zetsumei]

Since beta's are primarily for testing purposes, they should be closed sessions,open to invited people only, run on servers financed and controlled by TWI,(NOT some clan server where the clan members preferences are put before the good of the game,and the rest of the guys who aren't beta testers) DH anybody?

Considering everything before release is a beta it could be multiple things. If you want feedback on the server hosting tools then you need other people to host servers. If you want feedback on game stability then you need servers hosted by twi with monitoring going on.

It depends on what gets tested, like sometimes the playability needs to be tested rather than finding bugs. Aka often you need people to just play the game have a laugh to see what things can happen (for instance map balance).

 

[FlyXwire]

only way to stop it is for consumers to stop giving into corrupt systems, but it's never going to happen. people just give in because they really think that there's no other option. then again, it all centers around "value". if people continue to think they are getting something thats worth the price they'll pay for it, they feel that it's a good value. if companies can get people to really believe that it's worth the price, then all you can really say to them is "more power to you!"

I don't pre-order.
I won't pay to playtest either.

If TWI requires a preorder to playtest, then so be it, I miss out on the possibility.

 

[Fedorov]

I will only pre-order games that I'm positive that I'll buy anyway, which are TWI games, and Guild Wars 2, so I can save a few bucks.

But I will not pay extra money for a beta test

 

[EchoJ7]

Not to single you out Fedorov but you asked out loud why so many companies charge for early access or to beta or whatever, truth be told (though this dosen't ring true for all companies) paying for such trivial things is a fact of the modern games industry. The cost to produce a game as risen tenfold in the past 5 years with the average cost of a non-AAA rated game being somewhere in the region of

 

[Fedorov]

Final point - Pre-Pay access to a open beta (I have suggested a closed one for a Q&A and professional testing) the main criticism is that "kiddies" will just want to play, need I remind you that RO is an 18+ game but without being naive should thousands of kiddies and twitch gamers do get it to play early only - it only serves benefits Tripwire and in turn us, the community, by giving the means for continued support.

pre-pay is not really a problem, but pay extra for the beta is, and as I said before, I understand why companies do it, I just don't understand why people ask for it, or even worse, ask for paying extra to reserve a nickname, or buy overpowered weapons with real money.

also the examples you provide of games that are ultra expensive to make, are all those of the most hyped games and studios, It would be really weird if they don't cover those expenses with the game itself.

about Natural Selection 2, yes you pre-order the game to help them develop, and you get access to the alpha/beta, but they are not being *** hats charging extra money for it, and they don't even have the powerful investors backing them up.

so far, TWI has been one of the fairest devs in terms of pricing and dlc policy and I just hope they stay that way and don't listen to those masochists.

 

[EchoJ7]

Its about presenting options and voicing support to inclusion rather then exclusion. I'd much rather pay for a product I know is going to work then one that might, if it means paying a extra nominal fee thats fine by me, that said if EA asked the same then my answer would be the polar opposite.

A recent event held by Digital Mind Soft was you can pay a small fee to take part in the Men of War : Assault Squad beta - It's a brilliant idea because it appeals to people who already like that niche, it's acknowledging that people want to be involved in shaping that product it whatever way they can. If I don't like the product or feel paying for a beta access is beneath me then only I lose out, the other X amount of people simply gain, the company in turn succeed.

I really struggle to understand peoples desires to keep a large scale beta an exclusive thing, that somehow the game will be corrupted or tainted. I don't feel that closed private hand picked beta's always represent the communities best interests (I say this from past experience with other games and mods), I do recognise there usages and advantages in testing particular bugs but open beta's - free or pre-pay - offer far more advantages particularly on the PC platform.

It isn't my attention to offend anyone and I find it quite refreshing that people on this board are far more receptive to ideas - Ultimately it's just my opinion and I favour companies who offer chances to have a positive effect on development, however small and don't find it morally ambiguous for a company of a good nature (and humble origins) to ask or to make the suggestion.

 

[FlyXwire]

Respectfully EchoJ7, do you think charging or requiring a pre-order, which is then deducted upon playtest inclusion is not exclusion?

I don't understand that.

Sure, why not have large scale open beta testing, as large as TWI can handle, but I don't see how requiring a pre-order somehow relects "inclusion".

So next we should expect to pay for demos too?

 

[EchoJ7]

In my opinion it is inclusion, by offering the choice as opposed to picking a select group of individuals - I do see where you coming from but as already stated I do not see anything wrong in charging for access to beta's (As pointed out before, they being small companies). Once a company is self-sustained or has serious backing like DICE or Infinity Ward / Respawn for example, paying for access silly and irrelevant, open free beta's should be order of the day.

 

[FlyXwire]

Well who will decide when a company is successful enough to not charge for such things, certainly not the consumer whose already accepted paying for them.

Additional, we all want companies to make good games, and then to be rewarded for their hard work too, but much of these decisions about how to market products are decided by publishers, and not by design teams. There's no guarentee that TWI will always be able to decide these matters in our best interest in the future either.

 

[Fedorov]

as long as they keep publishing their own games and basing their system on steam, that wont be a problem

 

[mestido]

Is beta gonna be sometimes in 2010?

 

[Toby]

I can't wait for the day when I'm thinking to myself "Just another day" and I sign into steam and see "Red Orchestra: Heroes of Stalingrad PRE-ORDER NOW!" and then I will run a few laps around the house screaming. Going to be great.

 

[Flyguy 2000]

give meh beta so I can play!

 

[Ralfst3r]

The more beta testing threads we start, the faster we get the beta and also you'll get into the beta for sure.

 

[Fedorov]

give meh beta so I can play!

yes, give him beta so he can play!

 

[213]

pre-pay is not really a problem, but pay extra for the beta is, and as I said before, I understand why companies do it, I just don't understand why people ask for it, or even worse, ask for paying extra to reserve a nickname, or buy overpowered weapons with real money.

also the examples you provide of games that are ultra expensive to make, are all those of the most hyped games and studios, It would be really weird if they don't cover those expenses with the game itself.

about Natural Selection 2, yes you pre-order the game to help them develop, and you get access to the alpha/beta, but they are not being *** hats charging extra money for it, and they don't even have the powerful investors backing them up.

so far, TWI has been one of the fairest devs in terms of pricing and dlc policy and I just hope they stay that way and don't listen to those masochists.

because people are idiots and companies will continue exploiting their stupidity that way. it's pretty much a lost cause. if twi wants to go the dlc/microtransaction route, i don't blame them. i just won't buy the game.

 

[Fedorov]

because people are idiots and companies will continue exploiting their stupidity that way. it's pretty much a lost cause. if twi wants to go the dlc/microtransaction route, i don't blame them. i just won't buy the game.

I would be pissed, and I would certainly NOT accept such thing from any other company, but I would buy from TWI, because I'm such a fanboy...

...but I don't go to the point of others, thinking that they know and can manage some companies finances when they are just videogame rats, and come here suggesting that the company should take draconian measures on them or it will go broke. Because no other company releases free updates, It means it should not be possible?.

Still TWI already stated that the updates and content for RO:HoS will be free as they have always been for their other games, if there was some kind of DLC it would be purely optional and aesthetic like skins in KF, so no need more speculation about that... I can keep fanboying around. =) :IS2:

 

[gijas]

Well, beta or not I just hope there will be a demo of some sorts "before" the game comes out. Maybe a map or two to play one against the AI and one on a demo server. That would do more good for promoting this game. I have nothing against a closed beta either since this helps ironing out bugs and adding or changing game features but for the average user like me a demo would be great.