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Why don't some of us ever get chosen to beta and the ones that do suck?
a_name
Member Posts: 249
I've wondered about this lately what reason my buddy and I have never once been offered a beta invite for testing.
/prepare rant
We both signed up for 3 of them and one I waited over one year in queue. One year of my life after being told that EVERYONE that signed up for Warhammer beta WOULD get in before release. Now they are nearing release and still no stinkin beta access. One game expected us to participate in the forums and be active, 6 mos in and I got quite sick of that so stopped visiting their site.
Now, the game I'm playing regularly is having a beta, I can't count how many helpful posts I've made in the forum helping ppl resolve even computer issues or explaining things. Of course I have applied and got 0 response. Does none of this community service count toward anything?
I used to think it was my shoddy 3 yr old computer keeping me out but now I have a new one so that can no longer be the excuse.
I code for a living so I wouldn't be new to debugging or repetitive testing.
Yet, I know 2 ppl who are now in a beta I applied for leaking their face off about it. They act as tho the NDA doesn't exist and they don't take the beta process seriously for testing, they are just using it as a way to preview and leak new stuff.
Is THIS what they really want from beta - why are willing ppl that will do the JOB being passed over for the nibs that just want to play. Or is that what they want secretly, hype builders and leaky scabs?
/end rant
I don't see why I should apply for another beta at this point.
Comments
Quite a mystery. Unless your real life name is Osama Bin Laden.
Or just maybe it's bad luck; if you take a die and roll three times it's entirely possible to roll three 1's in a row. Or miss a six thrice for that matter. I have no doubt you are qualified for beta testing but so are a quadrillion other people. Just keep trying, chap
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applied for beta Nov 06. didn't get in. Had to pre-order to get into Open beta..
I just think it's a random thing.. Also maybe who you know.. I got into the LOTRO closed beta because I asked a guy I had to been talking to to send out an invite in the next round.. Just.. sort.. of random.
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I didnt used to mind not getting into closed betas because almost every game had open beta to the public.....Over the last year or so though many games appear to be heading toward "pay for beta" either through pre orders or thru other websites that charge to be a member to get the open beta invite...... It bothers me also that some people get beta invites then immediately go sell them on ebay or some other outlet......
No offense or anything, but you seem to be only talking about major games.
WaR had like 1 million people sign up for beta, and i assume your other game is LOTRO (or wow).
Apply to some smaller game betas......its a lottery for major games.
Ive beta tested a ton of games and trust me they dont listen to you anyways.
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Well you guys are positive about the process.
Just a wait and see huh or apply for obscure games ( but those didn't interest me
)
The games were WAR Spellborn and LOTRO so decent call on lotro.
I get paid enough to do debugging at work, suppose I'll just be content to not be concerned with the volunteer work and look out for meself.
Enjoy your betas heh - My buddy wants to keep applying, they believe it's a numbers game but they play the lottery and this lil piggy doesn't lol
It's all about luck for the most part.
Like someone posted the bigger games are harder to get in. Suck cause for some strange reason I enjoy testing.
Near as I can tell, you can greatly increase your odds of getting into any beta by having state of the art hardware in your application, especially if they are asking you to confirm it.
In 3 of the big betas recently I was totally ignored and as soon as I updated my application with the info about new swell new high powered gaming laptop, I got invites almost immediately.
So, my recommendation, if you don't have kick arse gear, get a dxdiag from a friend who does and submit it as part of your application. (although be warned, they might frown on this if they catch you)
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I don't think thats true. I have a very nice rig and have never gotten invited into beta once. I think they look for people with all types of hardware, but concentrate on people with low level systems to test the accessability of the game.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
It's a mystery for what game companies are looking for, but I assume it's mostly computer spec related. I've heard from Game Designers that they pick the people with the best computers for beta testing because the game is created in the highest specs, with lower specs being added into the game upon official release. I've also heard that some companies choose a large variety of computers to test the effectiveness of a large variety of rigs on different specs. And, as the above poster said, I have also heard that some companies choose the crappy computers to test accessibility.
I applied for The Chronicles of Spelbourne in 2006; racked up 400 posts on their forums, and am a proud owner of a high-end gaming PC; and still didn't get accepted. Life sucks.
Entered every contest for Runes of Magic to get in, and no email. Of course the contest is limited to 25 keys per....which is moronic in the first place, but w/e. Tried putting a serious entry in, and the ones that get approved are the "L33T, cool, I can write in internet speak" kids, go figure.
But yeah, the CBs are a pain to get into.
haha so we aren't alone in the overlooked crowd - there are more
As for my comp specs,phenom quad core, 6g ram, 3450 card and a beautiful 24" widescreen monitor - if they don't like my comp it's their fault heh works grand for me and my renders fly compared to the old comp. My card may not be the greatest meh.
Alot of people are in this boat.
People a few years back who applied to play beta, or even played MMOs where a serious buch of characters whos only objective was to find problems. Then came MMOs to the main stream market. Everyone is playing MMOs. We have gone from 100'sk+ to 10m+ players in the market. Now all these people who have been flooded into the market are new to all this and find out they can play beta. OMG FREE TRIAL OMG..... Now beta is abused, and more and more people are applying to 'help' in the beta.
Now if you are serious about Beta testing, you have to go in, and make an impression. Play the game, test the game, test some more, and more, and more. Keep a log of you travels, your worries and what you find of and in the game. Then go to the forums of the game, and display this information constructivley and attractivley. You continue doing this over and over again. Soon, you may just start getting Alpha invites.
Beta is abused, and a lottery. Not many take the task at hand seriously, and the rest who do, suffer because of it. It is a pitty.
IMO
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Yes to the OP, I feel the same. They way the MMO companies selects beta testers are very very very stupid. It makes those very few that knows what they are going to test, unable to help the game get better. I would also see MMO companies interact with their beta testers more closely. Ive been in betas, and sometimes I wonder where to start testing the game. And thats where you need some guide to help test out every part of the game from bottom and up.
MMO companies need people that know what dynamic is all about. Dynamic is not simply understanding, it has to do with feeling. Some people knows how to use this 6th sense and intuition while testing, most dont. This is why it is extremly vital for MMO companies to get the few who knows how the game should feel in general, and what makes it better.
As has been said already, thousands of people apply for betas, most seeing it as a "free trial" of the game before they fork out cash for it. That being the case, often devs select the most active members of the games community (ie forums) to be given beta invites, or have indepth applications to actually get some players who're genuinly interested in the game to test it.
Myself, as a student studing games design at university, I apply for any beta I come across, with the hopes of becoming more involved in other dev studios and helping to perfect other games.
I've had probably a 1:10 ratio of being selected, but it does happen, it's a little like winning a lottery.
If you feel you have sufficient experiance and qualifications, why not contact a local studio and ask them if they have any Tester positions avalible?
More likely than not, it'd be a paid position too, and you'd be working with the developers to perfect the game. (Though I'd think you'd get sick of the game :P Playing it fulltime, over and over again)
Originally posted by a_name
haha so we aren't alone in the overlooked crowd - there are more
As for my comp specs,phenom quad core, 6g ram, 3450 card and a beautiful 24" widescreen monitor - if they don't like my comp it's their fault heh works grand for me and my renders fly compared to the old comp. My card may not be the greatest meh.
Surely having this spec would be a DISADVANTAGE for you in alot of cases? I'd have thought dev's are more interested in getting their game running well for the target hardware specification, then making it run for upper/lower range as a secondary goal.
Just because you have the money to throw around, dosent mean you should automatically get selected for testing positions :P