A Open Beta should be used to test for bugs and stress although Open Beta implies that everyone can join or it is a Closed Beta. The reality is that Open Beta is more of a hype builder than a test for bugs in the game.
More specifically, an Open Beta is often a combination stress test and way to spread word of mouth about the game. Not so much bugs...
Bug reports made in open beta (or closed beta) are not ignored, but there is a certain question of priority. As an external tester, you're disadvantgaed in that the internal testers who are actually paid to find and document bugs are going to get most of the attention. On top of that (as this MMORPG.com article clarifies) chances are what your reporting might simply not be important enough to be fixed by release.
Final Fantasy XIV's open beta has been enormously successful so far. Why? Because we stressed their servers to capacity almost immediately. That's exactly what they want in a stress test, seeing if they can break the servers now isntead of at release.
That they're asking us right now to "please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again" is setting them up for another round when their next server configuration is ready. (Frankly, I'm surprised some more were handed out early in the morning of 9/2, after the initial 1900 keys ran out, considering it's better to hit them all at once.)
So being a great bug reporter is nice, there's a slim chance it might even do some good, but it's very important at this stage of development. What they really want you to do is break the servers now instead of later.
if it's so enourmously successfull then why the hell have they shut down open beta applications? Answer me that i got in my in box the following email from FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta Test Operations Department <ffxiv-noreply@square-enix.com>:
In preparation for the official release of FINAL FANTASY XIV on September 30, 2010 and the early release on September 22, we will be starting an open beta test to help put the finishing touches on the game. We ask that all users who can participate in the open beta test apply from the following website.
* The page will become accessible starting at 19:00 on Aug. 31, 2010.
2.Log in with your Square Enix account and have a registration code issued.
* Depending on the access status, we may temporarily suspend the issuance of registration code. If you cannot have registration code issued, we ask that you please wait a little while before trying again.
3.Register the registration code you received by e-mail on the Square Enix Account Management System.
Click "Select Service" from "Services and Options" on the left menu. Select "FINAL FANTASY XIV" from the services available and then "Add a service account." Enter the registration code you've been issued and proceed to the end of registration.
*If you have already downloaded the client software for the closed beta test, there is no need to download the installer.
- Transferring your Character Name from the Open Beta Test to the Commercial Release As long as the World you choose in the commercial release is the same as the World you chose in the open beta test, you will be able to transfer your character name. If you choose a different World for the commercial release, your character name will not be transferrable. For details, please refer to the beta test site.
- To PlayStation 3 Version Applicants:
This test phase will deal only with the Windows version of the software. Details regarding the test schedule for the PlayStation 3 version will be released by e-mail at a later date. If possible, we still ask and encourage you to take part in the testing on a Windows PC.
- Note:
?The open beta test is being conducted on the Windows version of the game only.
?Latest news and notifications will be periodically posted on the forums of the tester site.
?The game to be tested is under development, and may differ from the commercial release.
*This e-mail address is used exclusively for sending only. Please note that any replies to this message will not be answered.
Yet when i try to follow the links to be able to participate in the open beta i get the lovely open beta applications have been temporarily shut down. Which by now has me thouroughly pissed off. due the fact that i can't get my open beta key due to no given reason by squaresoft as to why open beta apps have been temporarily shut down ect. everyone can assume all they want but for those of us with the above email sitting in our in box it makes absolutely no sense that we should not be able to get our keuys and get in on the beta. Go figure but with no official announement from squaresoft or square enix or whatever they want to call themselves it seems a bit fishy to me that they send out these emails and then deny us access to even be able to get our open beta keys.
if it's so enourmously successfull then why the hell have they shut down open beta applications? Answer me that
Already did: because we successfully broke their servers and they'll need to upgrade them before having us slam their app server again and seeing if they can withstand the load. The open beta apps have been specifically shut down because we succesfully produced overstress conditions during the stress test. Alternately:
If there was not enough traffic to stress the server, then it would have been a pretty uneffective stress test because they did not encounter release-day traffic when they needed it.
If they did not shut down the beta apps and kept letting people in after the srevers were already badly stressed, tehy may have never started functoning again under too grate a load, preventing tests of the game servers being functional.
Either case, pretty unsuccessful compared to what we're looking at right now: working servers, just preparing themselves for the next big slam.
And, yeah, I've been staring at the http://entry.ffxiv.com/ page all day, you don't have to paste to me what's on it. As somebody who wanted to try the game, I'm not happy about it either! But at least I know the reasons behind it.
Sure it is open beta, the word beta is still in it. But since this is not my first (open) beta i can't help but compare it. And this one didn't give me a great first impression.
Not because they couldn't handle the influx of people logging in at the same time (although, with their previous experience with FF11, they could have foreseen it, and develop a less clumsy registration system). No, it's because of the poor communication.
Currently playing browser games. Waiting for Albion Online, Citadel of Sorcery and Camelot Unchained. Played: almost all MMO pre 2007
Sure it is open beta, the word beta is still in it. But since this is not my first (open) beta i can't help but compare it. And this one didn't give me a great first impression.
Not because they couldn't handle the influx of people logging in at the same time (although, with their previous experience with FF11, they could have foreseen it, and develop a less clumsy registration system). No, it's because of the poor communication.
I have to agree I don't like a few things they've done in communication:
When the keys were first being distributed, the page suggested you needed to "log in," directing some people (like myself) over to the account system and away from where the apps were until it was too late.
After the server become massively conjested to the point you couldn't reach the app, you then couldn't reach the part that told you that the "Applications for the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test have been temporarily suspended. Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again."
When it says "Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again," it doesn't explain in any detain how are we supposed to knowwhen they are ready to accept new applications? It's caused me to visit their server every half hour or so throughout the entire day... needlessly, if what that implies is that I'm supposed to wait for an email or something.
I suppose I can partly forgive them on the grounds that English isn't their first language.
Your application to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test has been accepted.
Please read through the e-mail we have sent to your Square Enix account's registered e-mail address.
Yup, just got mine too.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
Comments
More specifically, an Open Beta is often a combination stress test and way to spread word of mouth about the game. Not so much bugs...
Bug reports made in open beta (or closed beta) are not ignored, but there is a certain question of priority. As an external tester, you're disadvantgaed in that the internal testers who are actually paid to find and document bugs are going to get most of the attention. On top of that (as this MMORPG.com article clarifies) chances are what your reporting might simply not be important enough to be fixed by release.
Final Fantasy XIV's open beta has been enormously successful so far. Why? Because we stressed their servers to capacity almost immediately. That's exactly what they want in a stress test, seeing if they can break the servers now isntead of at release.
That they're asking us right now to "please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again" is setting them up for another round when their next server configuration is ready. (Frankly, I'm surprised some more were handed out early in the morning of 9/2, after the initial 1900 keys ran out, considering it's better to hit them all at once.)
So being a great bug reporter is nice, there's a slim chance it might even do some good, but it's very important at this stage of development. What they really want you to do is break the servers now instead of later.
if it's so enourmously successfull then why the hell have they shut down open beta applications? Answer me that i got in my in box the following email from FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta Test Operations Department <ffxiv-noreply@square-enix.com>:
In preparation for the official release of FINAL FANTASY XIV on September 30, 2010 and the early release on September 22, we will be starting an open beta test to help put the finishing touches on the game. We ask that all users who can participate in the open beta test apply from the following website.
1.Access the following URL.
http://entry.ffxiv.com/
* The page will become accessible starting at 19:00 on Aug. 31, 2010.
2.Log in with your Square Enix account and have a registration code issued.
* Depending on the access status, we may temporarily suspend the issuance of registration code. If you cannot have registration code issued, we ask that you please wait a little while before trying again.
3.Register the registration code you received by e-mail on the Square Enix Account Management System.
Click "Select Service" from "Services and Options" on the left menu. Select "FINAL FANTASY XIV" from the services available and then "Add a service account." Enter the registration code you've been issued and proceed to the end of registration.
The Square Enix Account Management System: https://secure.square-enix.com/account/
- Client Software Used in the Open Beta Test The installer for the open beta test’s client software can be downloaded from the following website.
http://entry.ffxiv.com/
*If you have already downloaded the client software for the closed beta test, there is no need to download the installer.
- Transferring your Character Name from the Open Beta Test to the Commercial Release As long as the World you choose in the commercial release is the same as the World you chose in the open beta test, you will be able to transfer your character name. If you choose a different World for the commercial release, your character name will not be transferrable. For details, please refer to the beta test site.
- To PlayStation 3 Version Applicants:
This test phase will deal only with the Windows version of the software. Details regarding the test schedule for the PlayStation 3 version will be released by e-mail at a later date. If possible, we still ask and encourage you to take part in the testing on a Windows PC.
- Note:
?The open beta test is being conducted on the Windows version of the game only.
?Latest news and notifications will be periodically posted on the forums of the tester site.
?The game to be tested is under development, and may differ from the commercial release.
?Please direct all inquiries regarding FINAL FANTASY XIV to the Square Enix Support Center ( http://support.na.square-enix.com/ffxiv/).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL FANTASY XIV Official Site
http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/
SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
FINAL FANTASY XIV Beta Test Operations Department
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*This e-mail address is used exclusively for sending only. Please note that any replies to this message will not be answered.
Yet when i try to follow the links to be able to participate in the open beta i get the lovely open beta applications have been temporarily shut down. Which by now has me thouroughly pissed off. due the fact that i can't get my open beta key due to no given reason by squaresoft as to why open beta apps have been temporarily shut down ect. everyone can assume all they want but for those of us with the above email sitting in our in box it makes absolutely no sense that we should not be able to get our keuys and get in on the beta. Go figure but with no official announement from squaresoft or square enix or whatever they want to call themselves it seems a bit fishy to me that they send out these emails and then deny us access to even be able to get our open beta keys.
Already did: because we successfully broke their servers and they'll need to upgrade them before having us slam their app server again and seeing if they can withstand the load. The open beta apps have been specifically shut down because we succesfully produced overstress conditions during the stress test. Alternately:
If there was not enough traffic to stress the server, then it would have been a pretty uneffective stress test because they did not encounter release-day traffic when they needed it.
If they did not shut down the beta apps and kept letting people in after the srevers were already badly stressed, tehy may have never started functoning again under too grate a load, preventing tests of the game servers being functional.
Either case, pretty unsuccessful compared to what we're looking at right now: working servers, just preparing themselves for the next big slam.
And, yeah, I've been staring at the http://entry.ffxiv.com/ page all day, you don't have to paste to me what's on it. As somebody who wanted to try the game, I'm not happy about it either! But at least I know the reasons behind it.
Sure it is open beta, the word beta is still in it. But since this is not my first (open) beta i can't help but compare it. And this one didn't give me a great first impression.
Not because they couldn't handle the influx of people logging in at the same time (although, with their previous experience with FF11, they could have foreseen it, and develop a less clumsy registration system). No, it's because of the poor communication.
Currently playing browser games. Waiting for Albion Online, Citadel of Sorcery and Camelot Unchained.
Played: almost all MMO pre 2007
I have to agree I don't like a few things they've done in communication:
When the keys were first being distributed, the page suggested you needed to "log in," directing some people (like myself) over to the account system and away from where the apps were until it was too late.
After the server become massively conjested to the point you couldn't reach the app, you then couldn't reach the part that told you that the "Applications for the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test have been temporarily suspended. Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again."
When it says "Please wait until we are ready to accept new applications and then try again," it doesn't explain in any detain how are we supposed to know when they are ready to accept new applications? It's caused me to visit their server every half hour or so throughout the entire day... needlessly, if what that implies is that I'm supposed to wait for an email or something.
I suppose I can partly forgive them on the grounds that English isn't their first language.
New keys! I just got one. Best of luck to you all!
Snap got one as well.
________________________________________________________
Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
Hurray finally after 3 days
Your application to the FINAL FANTASY XIV Open Beta Test has been accepted.
Please read through the e-mail we have sent to your Square Enix account's registered e-mail address.
Yup, just got mine too.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
Got mine around 6:30 this morning. Hurray.....