Advice for new beta testers... and fan expectations.

Ferox(SM)

I've seen a good positive hype of games like RV lately with people winning contests to get into the beta and the release of my game preview. While I think this is a good thing I would like to talk a little from my experience about beta testing games, and mmo development.

One of the first things you MUST realize... is that unless you get into a test for a mmo three weeks before its released, you will NOT be playing a game full of content and void of bugs. If you truely believe in the concept of the game and want it to succeed you should push the test to its limits and inform the developers of all problems.

Testing is not supposed to be easy, or fun, and your are privilidged to be allowed by the devs to help them make their game great, and experience the game before it is released. This also allows you to really feel like you are part of the project, and that with your help thousands of people will love the game for years to come.

You also must remember that things are always changing, how the game is during testing is most likely not how it wll be come release, so never get to attached to how things are... unless of course we are talking about something like what artifact entertainment did to horizons... making a great game into a shallow EQ style game, THEN speak your mind hehe.

I remember when I first got into shadowbane beta, There were supposed to be thousands in before me, yet every night the server only had 20-30 people or less. Obviously all those people were not true fans or were looking to play the full game for free for a while and not have to "work". I am convinced that if more people actually TESTED, then we would have better quality mmorpgs for everyone.

So remember, dont expect the world of a game in development, just enjoy that you are a part of what could be a great game in the future, and look forward to testing new features that come down the pike in the future. I know a lot of you guys just want to play the games... however think of it this way, if you do some work, you may not get 57 cents a day like those guys in the mmo sweatshops over in asia, but you will hopefully get a great game in the near future deviod of major problems that YOU helped