test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
Neverwinter Beta: Marketing, Tech, or another choice?
iamtruthseeker
Member, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
Hi all,
When I thought of people asking when beta will start and I thought of the games I had beta'ed, it made me think of the shift from what Beta Phases were for to what it is used for now, and potentially, how Cryptic (now owned by Perfect World) will use it?
Back in ye old PC assembled was-the-only-thing-almost-always-for-home-electronic-games era (there were exceptions back then as I did have the Tandy TV Scoreboard with Light Gun just before the Atari 2600 and other consoles debuted,) until the last several years, Beta had the word "test" follow it, and it was used to make the game better developed usually from a technical standpoint more than a PR standpoint.
For those not knowing what this meant, technically speaking, here is a list of software development life-cycle stages. Note what the "Pre-Alpha" an "Closed Beta" states are for, or were (as the case may be.)
Sure, one could argue the late eighties to early nineties and the popularity of the world wide web graphics and video for (real, not just portal access like AOL or Compuserve) internet access caused the change that we have for beta in today's games, or the "methods" Microsoft and Apple handled their "product releases," but the push for "beta as marketing" in gaming is a more recent trend, mentioned in the article as "The Beta Effect," and confirmed in this other article (especially with the instant access 2.0 of the social media used on portable devices as a trending cause, as well as the popularity of the word "trending" over "TVQ"
)
So, many modern gaming people from this "mindset" seemingly can't handle the unfinished look of many truly in-testing games, and this has caused many a game still in a "closed Beta (test) phase" to have to be developed and polished to the point where if you look at many "Free to Play games," when it enters this "phase," it's actually closer to being released over being tested and is more likely in what was known as a "final load testing phase," (or also known as "Stress Testing.")
Unfortunately, one of the article's excerpts identifies the overall current issue pretty well. I remember those days, even sold the first popular software for titles like Meridian 59 and later Everquest:
Sure I can confirm as a "recent closed beta tester" that we did try out a lot of the game's features, but it mainly seemed to be for making sure the game's store currency was working as much or more than the game was "running well."
While I have not had experiences with this company's (either Cryptic's or PW's) Beta level development yet, others here have-both on the company and player ends.
So, for better or for worse, many video game companies use the "beta" as marketing as much as or more than testing and support.
My question is (to both the Crypti/PWE employees and game player customers) how does this company handle their betas?
But I realize things could be different now compared to November 2011 because:
Whatever changes those points made to this company (if any,) will Cryptic handle their Neverwinter beta testing on a more tech or marketing angle, will Perfect World Change that for the "West," and will D&D/WOTC change that even more?
I do look forward to whatever Cryptic/PWE can say about this, but also look forward to reading users' feedback in their beta experiences from these companies (please, only finished beta runs; no listing anything that could still be under confidentiality or a NDA.)
I also hope that people who are "selected" or "won" beta access don't forget to give feedback in a detailed but respectful manner both technical and social, and the company take heed and not snub their user-base as "stupid" or "irrelevant" as some previous other companies' tests had done. Communication and feedback in a mature manner is key for the development and release of any game. Flaming or censoring does the other side no good when you can use your words of criticism and response to make a better experience for everybody.
Or let's hope so.
Speaking of ending with "let's hope so:"
An an interesting read of the iconic history of the MMO Testing and its future (well future then) can be found on this link. It's a good read, but it's both nine screen pages long and is from 2009 (and that's somewhat "old to extremely old" when it comes to current MMO issues.) I couldn't resist though because this article was published just before Champions Online came out, and does do a superb job on the history of MMO testing.
When I thought of people asking when beta will start and I thought of the games I had beta'ed, it made me think of the shift from what Beta Phases were for to what it is used for now, and potentially, how Cryptic (now owned by Perfect World) will use it?
Back in ye old PC assembled was-the-only-thing-almost-always-for-home-electronic-games era (there were exceptions back then as I did have the Tandy TV Scoreboard with Light Gun just before the Atari 2600 and other consoles debuted,) until the last several years, Beta had the word "test" follow it, and it was used to make the game better developed usually from a technical standpoint more than a PR standpoint.
For those not knowing what this meant, technically speaking, here is a list of software development life-cycle stages. Note what the "Pre-Alpha" an "Closed Beta" states are for, or were (as the case may be.)
Sure, one could argue the late eighties to early nineties and the popularity of the world wide web graphics and video for (real, not just portal access like AOL or Compuserve) internet access caused the change that we have for beta in today's games, or the "methods" Microsoft and Apple handled their "product releases," but the push for "beta as marketing" in gaming is a more recent trend, mentioned in the article as "The Beta Effect," and confirmed in this other article (especially with the instant access 2.0 of the social media used on portable devices as a trending cause, as well as the popularity of the word "trending" over "TVQ"
)So, many modern gaming people from this "mindset" seemingly can't handle the unfinished look of many truly in-testing games, and this has caused many a game still in a "closed Beta (test) phase" to have to be developed and polished to the point where if you look at many "Free to Play games," when it enters this "phase," it's actually closer to being released over being tested and is more likely in what was known as a "final load testing phase," (or also known as "Stress Testing.")
Unfortunately, one of the article's excerpts identifies the overall current issue pretty well. I remember those days, even sold the first popular software for titles like Meridian 59 and later Everquest:
Originally, alpha and beta testing phases weren't something that most gamers were privy to, let alone interested in taking part in, unless they were the "hardest of the hardcore." Game developers traditionally required time-consuming commitments from participants, stress-testing various game elements and tediously repeating many of the same actions and scenarios over and over again, doing everything they could to go looking for bugs.
Beta testers not affiliated with the developers (fans and community members) were expected to do a lot more than today's majority of participants, like replicating specific actions on request and submitting detailed bug reports on a regular basis. That's not to say that beta testing video games was ever as annoying as a job for most players, but it used to attract a much smaller crowd than it does today. Many gamers who sought out beta access knew it was a HAMSTER-for-tat relationship; in exchange for exclusive access to the game before everyone else, they understood a certain amount of debugging and constructive feedback was expected of them.
But in most of today's MMO beta tests, it's not uncommon to hear players complaining in-game about the very bugs they're meant to be looking for, without contributing to the resolution of those bugs and issues. Instead of taking an active role in an MMO's post-production refinement, many players are only interested in using the beta as demo, or getting a head-start in advance of everyone else. And to some extent, it's the publishers' own fault.
MMO publishers invite a vastly larger number of indiscriminate players in the newly-popular "open beta" tests, instead of the moderately-sized groups of dedicated testers they worked with in the past. In many cases, beta participation used to require a mandatory minimum amount of feedback, or specific, task-oriented testing and debugging. Although it's true that today's bigger and more-ambitious MMOs need more players to sniff out all those bugs and balance issues, the ratio of "dedicated testers" to "self-interested slackers" starts favoring the latter when publishers take advantage of their beta tests, using them as marketing assets.
Sure I can confirm as a "recent closed beta tester" that we did try out a lot of the game's features, but it mainly seemed to be for making sure the game's store currency was working as much or more than the game was "running well."
While I have not had experiences with this company's (either Cryptic's or PW's) Beta level development yet, others here have-both on the company and player ends.
So, for better or for worse, many video game companies use the "beta" as marketing as much as or more than testing and support.
My question is (to both the Crypti/PWE employees and game player customers) how does this company handle their betas?
But I realize things could be different now compared to November 2011 because:
- We now have two companies instead of one (both Cryptic and Perfect World)
- Two different regions (this is a Western game over an Asian F2P one,)
- Genres branded to a major label (this is D&D after all and Wizards of the Coast handles their own marketing concerns.)
- Finally, this game in its revolutionary action over turn-based button pushing in an MMORPG-western setup may actually require said technical testing, even if it's "just porting from co-op to a full MMO" (whatever that technically means now anyway.)
Whatever changes those points made to this company (if any,) will Cryptic handle their Neverwinter beta testing on a more tech or marketing angle, will Perfect World Change that for the "West," and will D&D/WOTC change that even more?
I do look forward to whatever Cryptic/PWE can say about this, but also look forward to reading users' feedback in their beta experiences from these companies (please, only finished beta runs; no listing anything that could still be under confidentiality or a NDA.)
I also hope that people who are "selected" or "won" beta access don't forget to give feedback in a detailed but respectful manner both technical and social, and the company take heed and not snub their user-base as "stupid" or "irrelevant" as some previous other companies' tests had done. Communication and feedback in a mature manner is key for the development and release of any game. Flaming or censoring does the other side no good when you can use your words of criticism and response to make a better experience for everybody.
Or let's hope so.
Speaking of ending with "let's hope so:"
An an interesting read of the iconic history of the MMO Testing and its future (well future then) can be found on this link. It's a good read, but it's both nine screen pages long and is from 2009 (and that's somewhat "old to extremely old" when it comes to current MMO issues.) I couldn't resist though because this article was published just before Champions Online came out, and does do a superb job on the history of MMO testing.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by iamtruthseeker on
0
Comments
Trion did use some late beta time as a sort of marketing, but mostly they used late testing for balance changes and mechanics tweaks (spawn rates, etc). I think their more serious testers were chosen early and late testers were there to provide some feedback, metrics, and load testing that only larger numbers can provide.
There was definitely a marketing push there, but it didn't seem to be the main focus.
I'm really hoping to get an invite to this beta (hint hint lol), but am not sure, as you point out, what the underlying purpose and intent of these coming test periods will be.
I typically enjoy testing where I can play something like I would normally do during live. I like focused testing too, but the most fun is trying out systems to see what works and what doesn't or what is clunky and what is smooth. That is fun stuff. Load testing is the least fun to play because often you're stuck in place or framerate drops to 3 or 4, but it can be a lot of fun for chatting with the community while the devs do their thing.
Did I mention I'm currently shamelessly plugging for an invite? b:chuckle
I know during the closed beta I plan on doing a bunch of bug busting, hopefully we can iron most of them before the open beta.
Except that, if they do follow PWE's policy (which they have up to this point) the game will never go out of open beta. Ever.
PWE has 8 titles that are Live. Plus 2 that they acquired with Cryptic, which are both Live. Add 1 single player game that is Live. Then there are 3 games that are not yet live and 1 that is in Beta. So, to correct your fallible post (or trolling post?), PWE has one game that hasn't made it out of open beta yet, which is RaiderZ.
Anyway.. I feel the main problem with the state of Beta Testing these days is that far too many people use Beta Testing access as a way to just play the game early instead of actually "Beta Testing." I remember when it took an application of past experience to even be selected into some games and then you'd get kicked from Beta if you did not contribute. Now, it seems that many companies have gotten on board with this notion and use it as an opportunity to do some free advertising for their game. Let's face it, whether it is good or bad publicity, it is still raising awareness of the game for free.
There are always going to be people that will try a game, despite its reviews. I know I am one such person that never takes random player's reviews to heart when considering a free to play game. I will only make my opinions after having formed them of my own accord. It is people that make their own opinions that I feel such free advertising is aimed for, just to raise awareness of the game to those who may not yet have heard about it, so that they will at least try it and form their own opinion and possibly spread it as well.
It is pay to play or buy to play games that I really consider other people's reviews more. Even then, I am still very meticulous in forming a decision based upon random people's reviews and only really take reviews to heart if I know the person, such as real life friends (as opposed to internet friends/acquaintances).
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
It's kind of funny to think that someone doesn't have faith in their community to help a great game like this become even more than it is. That's what I think the betas are for, to make changes, balances, tweeks you name it all for the release.
It's actually really important to me that this game does well, I 'intend' on playing the hell out of this game and I'm sure everyone else does too. Everyone is going to do their best to make it a fun game for everyone to play. Sure there are bound to be a few griefers or trolls around but for the most part I think that it's pretty solid.
It's certainly not going to be a last-minute marketing-only beta.
That is good to hear. With the Foundry having a somewhat separate beta cycle, will it be ready at the same time as the rest of the game?
Most certainly. It's a feature we won't be launching without.
Thanks,
Stormshade
I'm exaggerating, of course, but what I am saying is that I'm prepared to do my part as a tester and not as a demo player.
Nice to hear that, foundry will be something new to MMO's (beside STO if im not mistaken) which IMO will bring many people to neverwinter, for those who create and for those who will be able to enjoy almost endless quests, campaigns, ect....
About beta, damn i will even upgrade my computer if needed to play this hehe
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
I suppose you haven't actually logged into their games to see the server status, to see what it is that PWE actually refers to as "Live"... You know, some big "Open Beta" signs next to your ping indication...
Also, Raiderz is still in Alpha.
Quick to degrade our fellow man without actually getting our facts straight, are we?
I played around with the NWN2 toolset but it was a bit too complicated and not user friendly so I kept helping/using the NWN1 toolset.
I am super excited to help make the Foundry a more user friendly and fun toolset/feature for this game!
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
So are you now confirming that the game will not be ready for November 2012 (or at any juncture in Q4), as staunchly promoted?
TYRS PALADIUM - A Premier Neverwinter Online Guild
No Drama. Camaraderie. TEAM Focus. That's the TYRS way. If that's your style, come join us!
Research our Guild here: Read our official Recruitment thread | Sign up here: Tyrs Guild Website! | NEVERWINTER GUILD LEADERS: Join the Fellowship!
That doesn't mean I'm not interested in the answer to the question, though.
They actually never said officially when the game will be release, unofficially the game is supose to be online at the end of the year.
This is great news. I hope testing goes well and I'm glad you have breathing room to develop how you want.