As i said Sean, entombed did actually have private testing back when the
basic systems were being setup.
None of the private versions I played were actually particularly playable
games, ---- though Jason did stick in a surprise or two to keep us on our
toes.
That's the model I stil think is best, private testing at first, then
public.
beware the grue!
Dark.
----- Original Message -----
From: "shaun everiss" <[email protected]>
To: "Gamers Discussion list" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 2:31 AM
Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Public betas vs private testing
well you could do what tom has done.
half and half.
We get public betas every so often but only stable ones really.
otherwise private testing.
Now something like entombed from public all the way sounds good but it
depends on the game.
Entombed for example is a world where public testing would probably be
more suited to see what needs going in since it will eventually become
bigger than it is now.
Most of the major issues in the engine are done and now only content
issues happen and most of these are done in fact I have not seen many bug
reports released over the last bit and none this week which is a good
sign.
Ofcause the disadvantage with public is you can't offer any bonuses, ie
free games, discounts, etc to your testers because everyone would want
one.
Unless you had a prepays system like blindadreneline has though hmph well.
At 12:33 p.m. 3/01/2010, you wrote:
Hi all,
I just wanted to put a question out. What are your opinions of private
testing with a dedicated team versus publicly released betas that everyone
can try out? I have a new game in development now, and I am considering
whether to make a public beta available similar to what Thomas Ward and
Jason Alan have done. I see some pros and cons with private testing,
though:
Pros:
1. Easier to manage. Since you have only a few people who are testing the
game you do not need to answer the same questions or receive the same bug
reports numerous times.
2. The element of surprise. With a private team, very few people know
about the development and so it comes as more of a nice surprise when
something new is released, where as in the case when everyone knows pretty
much everything that is going on it's hardly unexpected when a game
finally is released. In the worst case, some people may even have gotten
tired of the game after playing the betas!
Cons:
1. Limited testing=more possible bugs. If you have a smaller team you are
not as likely to catch every single bug before the product goes to
release. This can result in some pretty rapid patch releases (1.0.1,
1.0.2, 1.1, etc) right after 1.0 has been put out and this obviously
doesn't look too good.
2. Nagging. If everyone knows about the game while it is being developed,
I fear that some people would be sending emails asking when the next
version is out or wanting to know why this or that feature that they
suggested hasn't been implemented. This is of course a very broad
generalization and I do not in any way wish to insinuate that a lot of
people do this, but there are a few cases and it might make it annoying
for the developer to see the project all the way to the end. If no one
except the private testing team knows about the game, then you will not
get any public comments before you go 1.0 and then you are obviosly
prepared to take them.
On the other hand, of course, more public suggestions means more good
possible ideas for the developer to work with. Thoughts, anyone?
Kind regards,
Philip Bennefall
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