Was an ok article until I read point 3, i'm a little bemused as to the way it was written, coming from a journalist for one of if not THE biggest mmorpg site. Although I tend not to trust the 'journalist' opinions so much anymore and make the judgements for myself, so I guess it doesn't matter too much...but still, come on man.
ive been in a lot of open betas and closed betas and the biggest bug bear i have with the concept of beta is that you can post bug report after bug report discuss balancing issues explain IN depth problems.
for it to all be ignored and those same bugs to still be in the game 6 months after release
i think if its a beta and they want feedback they should actually take it on board and acknowledge the bugs and faults, to have the same bugs still in a released games in some cases years after release is unforgivable.
either its a beta in which case accept my feedback and deal with it even if you just acknowledge it.
OR its a stress test in which case dont waste my time by pretending you want feedback.
Closed beta is all too often being used as a sort of get to know all the tricks of the trade and first look at a game before you buy it. Companies that want to release a good game need to do reviews on beta testers. Ones who give little to no feedback need to go same with ones that give simplistic feedback like "this quests sucks" or "mages are OP nerf them". You need to tell them why that quest sucks, maybe give an idea to improve it. Same with your opinion of some class being OP, give reasons, back it up with some kind of stat.
If you see a bug report it, don't keep it a secret you just hurt the game by holding back just so you can exploit it later. Anyone who needs to find and use bugs to gain an advanatage is a horrible gamer. No good gamer needs to use tricks to win. If it makes you feel big then you lead a sad life because sooner or later everyone you knew or played with will move on and forget you.
If all you want to do is test out the game before you buy then don't bother signing up for closed beta, wait for open. Don't waste the companies time and effort to game the game better. Everyone who does not help do true beta testing only hurts the development of the game. Even in open beta you should still be on the look out for bugs and problems and be reporting them. The more info tester, noticed i didn't use players because you are not one in beta, the better the end game will be.
My last beta was Darkfall and ive reported several bugs and posible exploits but when game was launched most where still ingame even after 4 months these where btw serieus bugs/expploits later gave a very negative impeact on whole game and community:(
And many of those beta tests are useless and more of a free gaming time before game go live, fault developers logic that many just take oportunity to play for free if developers dont fix serieus problems you detect and make sure they get them.
Beta couse of burnout?...... maybe only when its 6months or longer but short beta's i doub they couse any burnout.
Why test a game when you already on virge of burnout anyway?
I test only btw beta's of games i realy intrested in never for some free time.
So far games ive tested ive also played.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009..... In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
I agree with all. I test a lot of betas and always try to report any bugs if there are some (lots of games are pretty polished by closed beta now) or add my suggestions on what I like to see in a game. I am an Alt-oholic so I try all the classes and never really get very high level in a beta which is good and bad. I get the feel of the game but never see the end game. Mostly because I do suffer from burnout easy. I am unemployed atm so I have all day to play and it is very true that you can burn out on MMOs. But even more so on a beta that when you get into open beta I have a hard time playing the characters and content all over again. At least the F2P ones do not wipe your open beta characters, so I try to wait and only get into the Open Betas on those.
There really isn't any way to know for sure if you will stick with a game until after you buy it and play. I have only found a few that I have stuck with for years and the others are just wasted money. F2P games are looking better and better now that I am looking for a job. I quit LoTR after a few months because it moved sooo slow. Now that it will be F2P I think I will try it again. That way when I get bored I can move to the next game and come back later without any money out of my pocket.
I quit LoTR after a few months because it moved sooo slow. Now that it will be F2P I think I will try it again. That way when I get bored I can move to the next game and come back later without any money out of my pocket.
Sorry to derail the topic, but if you thought lotro played slow with a sub, how is it going to play faster being f2p? You will only have the main storyline to use for questing unless you spend money and buy the side quests which is what actually moves the game. Otherwise, advancing is going to be by grinding on mobs and be painfully slow.
On topic. You can always tell those who are just testing a game to see if they like it or just want something to do and those who actually try and find bugs to report. I stay away from open betas just like I do f2p games. I will do closed beta's, but wont offer any help or even acknowledge anyone who is not actually bug hunting to make the game better before release.
I blame the players just as much as the company for releasing a buggy product.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
I have been in many beta's.Two that come immediately to mind....WAR and VAnguard.I saw what VG was and still bought the game to my dismay.I saw what WAR was...and avoided that (substitute your own descriptor).I sincerely believe they are a great way for gamers to save time and money avoiding the poorly designed games.Now I mostly avoid beta's.I have game I play...until. I'll let others pave the way with testing.Given the abysmal state of mmog development in the last few years....i'm not missing much.
If you added the reasons 1-5 together i do not believe that would equal one valid reason not to beta.
I have been in so many triple a betas i can't remember them all but the game in beta is normally very close to release. (While things change/improve the core systems of the game normally stay the same and its those core systems that make or break a game.)
Its an mmo its not supposed to BURN out at least not quickly, if this is happening fast ina beta then ... the games bad, maybe you could hint this to the devs , tho this rarely changes.
ETC ETC for all the points i just don't see any reason NOT to beta that is an acctual reason.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
This is my first post on this forum, however I have been reading articles and following MMOs through this website for years. I feel that I have to respond to this article in particular simply because I disagree with almost everything in it.
From the wall of text to poor sentence structure, grammar mistakes and a weak attempt at controversy, I find this article to be simply lacking.
I'll go down the list in the same manner the original post was constructed.
5) NDA's are a necessary part of a beta test. Us, the testers, agree to the terms and conditions similar to the rules and regulations required for posting on these forums. Are these rules always followed by the user?
The developer fully understands that a fair portion of the game is going to be leaked and as such there are multiple beta testing cycles.
First, is an internal test closely followed by "friends and family". Even during these early phases some information gets leaked by the excited or disappointed testers.
A broader closed Beta usually follows and leads up to an open Beta test. At this point the game is very close to completion and the Beta feedback is going to be analyzed and patched on the day of release.
If the developers met their internal milestones this feedback is mainly used to fix broken quests, bugs and other minor issues. Most of the feedback, similar to this post, comes in a similar wall of text format and provides little to no input. However, from time to time, testers bring valuable information that even a prominent studio with a large QA team can easily miss.
The developer and the publisher are fully prepared for the unavoidable leaks that are an unfortunate collateral damage of an open or even closed beta. Having said that, it is up to the tester to honor their signed contract.
4) The Beta, whether open or closed, good or bad, is free. No one forces the community to participate but it is a chance to catch a glimpse at a potentially successful and promising product at no cost to the user.
Most importantly, if the game has flaws but an overall fun experience, or simply an original "hook", this is a perfect time to provide concise and helpful feedback that can point the game in the right direction and make a strong gaming experience on the date of release.
3) Beta test provides the lucky participants with early knowledge of the game. Having participated in multiple MMO Beta tests I can attest that the experience gave me a solid grasp on the mechanics and created a much easier leveling experience for the official release of the game.
Those who enter the MMO world for the first time without a previous knowledge of the game find themselves at a small disadvantage compared to the seasoned Beta tester. Allowing Beta testers to keep their characters would create an unbalanced playing field and infuriate the majority of the gaming community for the MMO in question.
2) While the beta experiences is hardly ever as polished as the game that ships a few months down the road the tester is not obligated or required to commit their time to the beta test. A screening process happens during registration based on user experience in MMOs, their hardware and demographic.
As with the first section above, the developers account for the fact that the majority of players will not contribute to the testing cycle. Having said that, the sheer number of players logged in simultaneously provide critical feedback in server stability. The gathered information is used to once again create a more polished experience.
1) At this point I feel that the writer is simply fishing to fill the last section.
Burn-out happens with unpolished or poorly designed games. If a tester can burn out from an MMO in two weeks or even two months that game is probably not worth paying for. Most players would be happy to find this at no cost and wait for a more promising title.
To conclude this lengthy post I would like to say that I read the requirements for becoming a writer on MMORPG.com. I have enjoyed many posts over the years and I understand that writers are required to submit X amount of articles per month.
Personally, I would like it if the above mentioned writers took more time to come up with original ideas as opposed to vomiting quick and unsatisfying articles to fill the gaps.
i agree with all of these but some of these dont apply 2 ppl i just got accepted 2 vindictus closed beta and i plan on being very helpful cuz i know wat can happen if no1 helps during beta thats right im talking about the dead game syndrome which 4 all those who dont know wat that is it means no1 plays the game no more bcuz the game got ruined 4 reasons like bugs, over powerd enemies, classes or gear in cash shops but onwards ive never gotten tired of a game that i truly liked and not cuz i truly took a break from it probably cuz i dont play all the time i usually only play at night and then the not getting 2 keep ur charactor after beta test is over who cares if u truly like the game u wouldnt mind cuz it gives u more chance 2 try new things out with the game that u probably wouldnt try if u did get 2 keep it like if u pick a warrior clas char and get really good at it cuz that char get deleted u might try a mage class cuz u might as well cuz u might like it better and u dont have any more obligations with that old char like guild or leveling and higher so i guess wat im trying 2 say for all those ppl who feel the same way i do plz dont feel discouraged from trying a beta cuz we need u there so the game doesnt die out
The reason people misunderstand beta's is that the companies never ever ever make it clear from the beginning what their intentions are.. They lure the average gamer in with "Play the game early and free!!" and make them chase the carrot from scratch EVEN in Closed betas and alphas.. they rarely ever start the characters at various levels to test the content (like Kingdom Heroes when they made everyone max level for a little while)..
I blame the F2P market for the dissapearance of true beta testing.. Because everytime an old mmo is localized from another country, the company makes it a point to spend months of CBT's, although the final game has been developed years ago. This makes gamers confused, they see the final version, yet are asked to "test" a game that is being localized (translated basically)..
I seldom do Beta's anymore myself for all of the reasons you listed above however I cannot stress enough how much I agree with all 5 of those comments especially 3 and 4 and how many tards there are out there that just join a beta to get the free play time of a try before you buy in and don't actually do any testing whatsoever..seen it time an time again in beta forums and those god aweful posts about can i keep my character and this game sucks its not even finshed yet i'm going back to wow til its done....waaaaah...
As far as I'm concerned, "open beta" just means free trial. I play for a few hours and decide if I want to buy the game. As soon as MMOs start releasing free trials by launch day, I'll start taking open betas more seriously.
Used to be that free trials were the norm. I think they still should be. Too many of them are just too awful for me to care if that's not the right way of looking at it.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
All of these reasons more or less point toward why I won't test TOR. I signed up for beta testing, but realized after they began invites, that I really don't want to test it, and it's mainly for reasons 4 and 5. I WOULD be one of those gamers that would actually give feedback, but at the same time, I really just wanted to get my hands on the game. After reading through this list, I'm actually glad I'm opting out of doing it. I'd much rather wait till Launch and let myself enjoy it from actual Day 1. If I do get invited to the beta I'm going to turn it down, it'll be hard to do, but it will be for the better.
Vhaln - "open beta" is not just a free trial. Open beta is where they add so many people to stress out the server to see if it crashes. And I have seen it crash servers of games for a few days until they got things ironed out.
I been doing betas since Neocron, Earth & Beyond , Shadowrun, and many many more (lost count). And list is pretty accurate. I have seen way too many people want to get into betas just to play the game to say they "played it" before anyone.
And those who stated they been in betas that seemed finished/retail. Well Alpha, closed #1, closed #2, closed #3, closed #4(sometimes), open is usually the stages. By closed #3 they have gotten majority of the game done so it looks like it's ready. But by then they are into high lvl/end game so if your just starting with the beta at that stage you will see more of a polished game cause the prior phases took care of the lower end stuff. 3 and sometimes 4 they crank up the exp/drops a bit before Open to get people to higher levels quicker to test that end. Open starts the mostly done stage, and stress testing with adding higher number of people online.
If you don't have the enjoyment of QA a product then beta testing is for you. Wanting to get in on "next thing", or just to see if you like the game... PLEASE wait for open betas, then if you don't like it, don't play it. And you still will get in on "next thing" before many others. Betas are to test someone else's vision, and you to help them iron out the little things prior to it's launch. Not complain and QQ because it is not what YOU want it/expected it to be.
I for one enjoy the QA work in betas. Ticketing the glitches, mis-spellings, etc. I don't care if it is Hello Kitty Online, DCUO, Everquest next expansion ... beta testing to a beta tester is all the same. It's for the option to help debug someone’s project to help produce something better for them to release to the public. To make the people who want their products to be happy and enjoy them.
Comments
Was an ok article until I read point 3, i'm a little bemused as to the way it was written, coming from a journalist for one of if not THE biggest mmorpg site. Although I tend not to trust the 'journalist' opinions so much anymore and make the judgements for myself, so I guess it doesn't matter too much...but still, come on man.
ive been in a lot of open betas and closed betas and the biggest bug bear i have with the concept of beta is that you can post bug report after bug report discuss balancing issues explain IN depth problems.
for it to all be ignored and those same bugs to still be in the game 6 months after release
i think if its a beta and they want feedback they should actually take it on board and acknowledge the bugs and faults, to have the same bugs still in a released games in some cases years after release is unforgivable.
either its a beta in which case accept my feedback and deal with it even if you just acknowledge it.
OR its a stress test in which case dont waste my time by pretending you want feedback.
For me beta testing would ruin the initital launch of the game for me so Id have to play betas that I wasnt going to normally play and buy.
Closed beta is all too often being used as a sort of get to know all the tricks of the trade and first look at a game before you buy it. Companies that want to release a good game need to do reviews on beta testers. Ones who give little to no feedback need to go same with ones that give simplistic feedback like "this quests sucks" or "mages are OP nerf them". You need to tell them why that quest sucks, maybe give an idea to improve it. Same with your opinion of some class being OP, give reasons, back it up with some kind of stat.
If you see a bug report it, don't keep it a secret you just hurt the game by holding back just so you can exploit it later. Anyone who needs to find and use bugs to gain an advanatage is a horrible gamer. No good gamer needs to use tricks to win. If it makes you feel big then you lead a sad life because sooner or later everyone you knew or played with will move on and forget you.
If all you want to do is test out the game before you buy then don't bother signing up for closed beta, wait for open. Don't waste the companies time and effort to game the game better. Everyone who does not help do true beta testing only hurts the development of the game. Even in open beta you should still be on the look out for bugs and problems and be reporting them. The more info tester, noticed i didn't use players because you are not one in beta, the better the end game will be.
My last beta was Darkfall and ive reported several bugs and posible exploits but when game was launched most where still ingame even after 4 months these where btw serieus bugs/expploits later gave a very negative impeact on whole game and community:(
And many of those beta tests are useless and more of a free gaming time before game go live, fault developers logic that many just take oportunity to play for free if developers dont fix serieus problems you detect and make sure they get them.
Beta couse of burnout?...... maybe only when its 6months or longer but short beta's i doub they couse any burnout.
Why test a game when you already on virge of burnout anyway?
I test only btw beta's of games i realy intrested in never for some free time.
So far games ive tested ive also played.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
I agree with all. I test a lot of betas and always try to report any bugs if there are some (lots of games are pretty polished by closed beta now) or add my suggestions on what I like to see in a game. I am an Alt-oholic so I try all the classes and never really get very high level in a beta which is good and bad. I get the feel of the game but never see the end game. Mostly because I do suffer from burnout easy. I am unemployed atm so I have all day to play and it is very true that you can burn out on MMOs. But even more so on a beta that when you get into open beta I have a hard time playing the characters and content all over again. At least the F2P ones do not wipe your open beta characters, so I try to wait and only get into the Open Betas on those.
There really isn't any way to know for sure if you will stick with a game until after you buy it and play. I have only found a few that I have stuck with for years and the others are just wasted money. F2P games are looking better and better now that I am looking for a job. I quit LoTR after a few months because it moved sooo slow. Now that it will be F2P I think I will try it again. That way when I get bored I can move to the next game and come back later without any money out of my pocket.
Sorry to derail the topic, but if you thought lotro played slow with a sub, how is it going to play faster being f2p? You will only have the main storyline to use for questing unless you spend money and buy the side quests which is what actually moves the game. Otherwise, advancing is going to be by grinding on mobs and be painfully slow.
On topic. You can always tell those who are just testing a game to see if they like it or just want something to do and those who actually try and find bugs to report. I stay away from open betas just like I do f2p games. I will do closed beta's, but wont offer any help or even acknowledge anyone who is not actually bug hunting to make the game better before release.
I blame the players just as much as the company for releasing a buggy product.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
I have been in many beta's.Two that come immediately to mind....WAR and VAnguard.I saw what VG was and still bought the game to my dismay.I saw what WAR was...and avoided that (substitute your own descriptor).I sincerely believe they are a great way for gamers to save time and money avoiding the poorly designed games.Now I mostly avoid beta's.I have game I play...until. I'll let others pave the way with testing.Given the abysmal state of mmog development in the last few years....i'm not missing much.
If you added the reasons 1-5 together i do not believe that would equal one valid reason not to beta.
I have been in so many triple a betas i can't remember them all but the game in beta is normally very close to release. (While things change/improve the core systems of the game normally stay the same and its those core systems that make or break a game.)
Its an mmo its not supposed to BURN out at least not quickly, if this is happening fast ina beta then ... the games bad, maybe you could hint this to the devs , tho this rarely changes.
ETC ETC for all the points i just don't see any reason NOT to beta that is an acctual reason.
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one ..." - Thomas Paine
Hi,
This is my first post on this forum, however I have been reading articles and following MMOs through this website for years. I feel that I have to respond to this article in particular simply because I disagree with almost everything in it.
From the wall of text to poor sentence structure, grammar mistakes and a weak attempt at controversy, I find this article to be simply lacking.
I'll go down the list in the same manner the original post was constructed.
5) NDA's are a necessary part of a beta test. Us, the testers, agree to the terms and conditions similar to the rules and regulations required for posting on these forums. Are these rules always followed by the user?
The developer fully understands that a fair portion of the game is going to be leaked and as such there are multiple beta testing cycles.
First, is an internal test closely followed by "friends and family". Even during these early phases some information gets leaked by the excited or disappointed testers.
A broader closed Beta usually follows and leads up to an open Beta test. At this point the game is very close to completion and the Beta feedback is going to be analyzed and patched on the day of release.
If the developers met their internal milestones this feedback is mainly used to fix broken quests, bugs and other minor issues. Most of the feedback, similar to this post, comes in a similar wall of text format and provides little to no input. However, from time to time, testers bring valuable information that even a prominent studio with a large QA team can easily miss.
The developer and the publisher are fully prepared for the unavoidable leaks that are an unfortunate collateral damage of an open or even closed beta. Having said that, it is up to the tester to honor their signed contract.
4) The Beta, whether open or closed, good or bad, is free. No one forces the community to participate but it is a chance to catch a glimpse at a potentially successful and promising product at no cost to the user.
Most importantly, if the game has flaws but an overall fun experience, or simply an original "hook", this is a perfect time to provide concise and helpful feedback that can point the game in the right direction and make a strong gaming experience on the date of release.
3) Beta test provides the lucky participants with early knowledge of the game. Having participated in multiple MMO Beta tests I can attest that the experience gave me a solid grasp on the mechanics and created a much easier leveling experience for the official release of the game.
Those who enter the MMO world for the first time without a previous knowledge of the game find themselves at a small disadvantage compared to the seasoned Beta tester. Allowing Beta testers to keep their characters would create an unbalanced playing field and infuriate the majority of the gaming community for the MMO in question.
2) While the beta experiences is hardly ever as polished as the game that ships a few months down the road the tester is not obligated or required to commit their time to the beta test. A screening process happens during registration based on user experience in MMOs, their hardware and demographic.
As with the first section above, the developers account for the fact that the majority of players will not contribute to the testing cycle. Having said that, the sheer number of players logged in simultaneously provide critical feedback in server stability. The gathered information is used to once again create a more polished experience.
1) At this point I feel that the writer is simply fishing to fill the last section.
Burn-out happens with unpolished or poorly designed games. If a tester can burn out from an MMO in two weeks or even two months that game is probably not worth paying for. Most players would be happy to find this at no cost and wait for a more promising title.
To conclude this lengthy post I would like to say that I read the requirements for becoming a writer on MMORPG.com. I have enjoyed many posts over the years and I understand that writers are required to submit X amount of articles per month.
Personally, I would like it if the above mentioned writers took more time to come up with original ideas as opposed to vomiting quick and unsatisfying articles to fill the gaps.
Thanks,
- Crazy
My apologies about the "wall of text" comment above. It seems that the forum does not allow spacing
- Crazy
i agree with all of these but some of these dont apply 2 ppl i just got accepted 2 vindictus closed beta and i plan on being very helpful cuz i know wat can happen if no1 helps during beta thats right im talking about the dead game syndrome which 4 all those who dont know wat that is it means no1 plays the game no more bcuz the game got ruined 4 reasons like bugs, over powerd enemies, classes or gear in cash shops but onwards ive never gotten tired of a game that i truly liked and not cuz i truly took a break from it probably cuz i dont play all the time i usually only play at night and then the not getting 2 keep ur charactor after beta test is over who cares if u truly like the game u wouldnt mind cuz it gives u more chance 2 try new things out with the game that u probably wouldnt try if u did get 2 keep it like if u pick a warrior clas char and get really good at it cuz that char get deleted u might try a mage class cuz u might as well cuz u might like it better and u dont have any more obligations with that old char like guild or leveling and higher so i guess wat im trying 2 say for all those ppl who feel the same way i do plz dont feel discouraged from trying a beta cuz we need u there so the game doesnt die out
The reason people misunderstand beta's is that the companies never ever ever make it clear from the beginning what their intentions are.. They lure the average gamer in with "Play the game early and free!!" and make them chase the carrot from scratch EVEN in Closed betas and alphas.. they rarely ever start the characters at various levels to test the content (like Kingdom Heroes when they made everyone max level for a little while)..
I blame the F2P market for the dissapearance of true beta testing.. Because everytime an old mmo is localized from another country, the company makes it a point to spend months of CBT's, although the final game has been developed years ago. This makes gamers confused, they see the final version, yet are asked to "test" a game that is being localized (translated basically)..
This is nothing but early access to many..
The more beta players, the more bugs get found and fixed before launch.
Avoiding it isn't solving anything, it would actually cause more problems.
People just need to keep in mind that BETA means BETA.
Which means there will be bugs, there will be things wrong, etc etc etc whatever.
I seldom do beta's anymore, unless asked (I used to be a Dev and still have friends in the industry). And even then, I'm still very hesitant.
Beta is just a frustrating/tedius grind if done right. And seldom are they done right anymore (by the companies or the players).
As for the secretive part ... pffffft. There is nothing secretive about a beta if you know where to look and run in the right circles.
I seldom do Beta's anymore myself for all of the reasons you listed above however I cannot stress enough how much I agree with all 5 of those comments especially 3 and 4 and how many tards there are out there that just join a beta to get the free play time of a try before you buy in and don't actually do any testing whatsoever..seen it time an time again in beta forums and those god aweful posts about can i keep my character and this game sucks its not even finshed yet i'm going back to wow til its done....waaaaah...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php
As far as I'm concerned, "open beta" just means free trial. I play for a few hours and decide if I want to buy the game. As soon as MMOs start releasing free trials by launch day, I'll start taking open betas more seriously.
Used to be that free trials were the norm. I think they still should be. Too many of them are just too awful for me to care if that's not the right way of looking at it.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
All of these reasons more or less point toward why I won't test TOR. I signed up for beta testing, but realized after they began invites, that I really don't want to test it, and it's mainly for reasons 4 and 5. I WOULD be one of those gamers that would actually give feedback, but at the same time, I really just wanted to get my hands on the game. After reading through this list, I'm actually glad I'm opting out of doing it. I'd much rather wait till Launch and let myself enjoy it from actual Day 1. If I do get invited to the beta I'm going to turn it down, it'll be hard to do, but it will be for the better.
Vhaln - "open beta" is not just a free trial. Open beta is where they add so many people to stress out the server to see if it crashes. And I have seen it crash servers of games for a few days until they got things ironed out.
I been doing betas since Neocron, Earth & Beyond , Shadowrun, and many many more (lost count). And list is pretty accurate. I have seen way too many people want to get into betas just to play the game to say they "played it" before anyone.
And those who stated they been in betas that seemed finished/retail. Well Alpha, closed #1, closed #2, closed #3, closed #4(sometimes), open is usually the stages. By closed #3 they have gotten majority of the game done so it looks like it's ready. But by then they are into high lvl/end game so if your just starting with the beta at that stage you will see more of a polished game cause the prior phases took care of the lower end stuff. 3 and sometimes 4 they crank up the exp/drops a bit before Open to get people to higher levels quicker to test that end. Open starts the mostly done stage, and stress testing with adding higher number of people online.
If you don't have the enjoyment of QA a product then beta testing is for you. Wanting to get in on "next thing", or just to see if you like the game... PLEASE wait for open betas, then if you don't like it, don't play it. And you still will get in on "next thing" before many others. Betas are to test someone else's vision, and you to help them iron out the little things prior to it's launch. Not complain and QQ because it is not what YOU want it/expected it to be.
I for one enjoy the QA work in betas. Ticketing the glitches, mis-spellings, etc. I don't care if it is Hello Kitty Online, DCUO, Everquest next expansion ... beta testing to a beta tester is all the same. It's for the option to help debug someone’s project to help produce something better for them to release to the public. To make the people who want their products to be happy and enjoy them.