Would you Test Darkfall?

SupderD

Test being the key word here.

I got to thinking, with Aventurine bing on such a limited budget (if little is the word.. and budget is an actual word that can be used..) would you hire somebody to test your product when there are thousands of people that will do it for free?

I know that Professional testers might know how to test certain things.. but would it be so hard to have an internal message board with what will be testing that day? Or week or month?  So, I ask.. Would YOU test darkfall and report bugs/flops/problems?

Blodpls

As far as I know every company uses paid testers to certain extent.  That's what the QA people do if look at game credits.  Some companies like EA have them full time in house.

Personally I wouldn't do actual real testing myself, it pays not much more than minimum wage.

SupderD

The things is.. you wouldn't actually be getting paid.. Thats the point. Why pay people to continue to do something.. when clearly the masses will do it for free, is  only 1/10th of the people who signed up for beta actually reported back.. That would still be cheaper than having to pay people.

Blodpls

Originally posted by SupderD


The things is.. you wouldn't actually be getting paid.. Thats the point. Why pay people to continue to do something.. when clearly the masses will do it for free, is  only 1/10th of the people who signed up for beta actually reported back.. That would still be cheaper than having to pay people.

 

I don't believe that anyone would do the kind of game testing that paid testers do for free. 

Ihmotepp

I've done some betas, and I"m not really that interested anymore. If a game is bad, I don't want to spend time on it, and if a game is good, the beta kinda spoils it for me.

Blodpls

This is what wikipedia has to say about it:

"A common misconception is that professional game testing is akin to a public beta test or stress test, where players are expected to enjoy the game and report any bugs they happen to find. In reality, game testing is highly focused on finding bugs, often using tedious methodologies. Even if one could play the game freely, there is no guarantee that the game is stable or fun enough to be enjoyable. A tester may be required to play the same portion of a game repeatedly for hours at a time. Understandably, burn-out is common in this field.

Despite the demanding and risky nature of the job, game testing doesn't pay a great deal and is usually paid hourly, with wages ranging from USD$8 to $15 per hour in the United States. As temps, testers typically receive no benefits or holidays and simply take unpaid vacation days when desired. Many game testers take this job because they enjoy gaming as a hobby; unfortunately this "love of the game" is exploited to its fullest by employers."

SupderD

Originally posted by Blodpls


This is what wikipedia has to say about it:
"A common misconception is that professional game testing is akin to a public beta test or stress test, where players are expected to enjoy the game and report any bugs they happen to find. In reality, game testing is highly focused on finding bugs, often using tedious methodologies. Even if one could play the game freely, there is no guarantee that the game is stable or fun enough to be enjoyable. A tester may be required to play the same portion of a game repeatedly for hours at a time. Understandably, burn-out is common in this field.
 

 

That's why I suggested focused testing I know it may not be the same quality has 5 dudes sitting aorund press the jump key over and over again.. but they could at least NOW (with the testing opening up more) Allow for theless mundane testing.

Makestro

if invited in the phase where QA is working along side the current testers I'd do it, but honestly I want to get a taste for the game and demo it before I buy it after all these years.

Kien

Originally posted by Blodpls


This is what wikipedia has to say about it:
"A common misconception is that professional game testing is akin to a public beta test or stress test, where players are expected to enjoy the game and report any bugs they happen to find. In reality, game testing is highly focused on finding bugs, often using tedious methodologies. Even if one could play the game freely, there is no guarantee that the game is stable or fun enough to be enjoyable. A tester may be required to play the same portion of a game repeatedly for hours at a time. Understandably, burn-out is common in this field.
Despite the demanding and risky nature of the job, game testing doesn't pay a great deal and is usually paid hourly, with wages ranging from USD$8 to $15 per hour in the United States. As temps, testers typically receive no benefits or holidays and simply take unpaid vacation days when desired. Many game testers take this job because they enjoy gaming as a hobby; unfortunately this "love of the game" is exploited to its fullest by employers."

 

I have a family member that is a professional game tester, and based upon what he has told me, the wiki description is accurate.

The  games that go through his company are on a tight schedule. That's one of the reason I don't buy the open ended commitment DF claims to have made to hire professional testers. I don't believe DF could afford it.

Kyleran

Originally posted by SupderD


The things is.. you wouldn't actually be getting paid.. Thats the point. Why pay people to continue to do something.. when clearly the masses will do it for free, is  only 1/10th of the people who signed up for beta actually reported back.. That would still be cheaper than having to pay people.

But think about it this way.  Professional Testers = 85% efficiency, The masses = 15% at best.

Sure, I made those numbers up, but the order of magnitude in terms of efficiency is pretty spot on.

The masses aren't trained on testing, they won't be writing up a test plan, and making running regular regression tests.  They function best as a User Acceptance test group, as they will "play the game", but for hard core testing, they'll fail.

 

kishe

Free testing = play the game

 

Paid testing = buy each product on a vendor 200 times to see if anything fails, then write 12 pages about it.

 

no free tester would do that

TenSpotting

Originally posted by SupderD


Test being the key word here.
I got to thinking, with Aventurine bing on such a limited budget (if little is the word.. and budget is an actual word that can be used..) would you hire somebody to test your product when there are thousands of people that will do it for free?
I know that Professional testers might know how to test certain things.. but would it be so hard to have an internal message board with what will be testing that day? Or week or month?  So, I ask.. Would YOU test darkfall and report bugs/flops/problems?

Professional testers are no different than regular people testing.. they just do it better cause they'r paid to do it.

Stellos

Beta testers are suppose to be testing the game.  That's the point.  However, those of you who have tested the games before in the past know what really happens don't you;)  Of course we "test" the game by going through the game the way normal players would go through it and report bugs and flaws as we go, but we don't do the same type of testing as those who do QA for these games.

DuraheLL

I've had it with playing unfinished content really. Can't stand it. So I'd be a horrible beta tester