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First beta invites going out at the end of March
Iselin
Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
Our first invites are going out this month. We know many of you have questions about the program, so we’ve put together this article to give you some answers and help prepare you to beta test ESO. Thank you for all your enthusiasm about testing, and we look forward to seeing you in the game.
http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2013/03/01/your-beta-questions-answered
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
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“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
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Comments
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
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Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/No. They've already said that has nothing to do with your chances of being selected for beta.
" Early 2013 " is the only confirmed thing they've said.
Weekends with limited playtime on those weekends and nda. These things have become caution signs over the last year. We've seen it before. It's almost as if limited beta and nda are used to hide the shollowness and lack of longevity of a game.
If your product is good and can stand the test of time, let people play uninterupted, and let them sing it's praises from the roof tops.
If you have 2-3 months worth of playable content, go the limited beta, nda route.
Having an na and limiting time has always been a part of beta testing. It doesn't mean anything.
Not having a 'public' beta would be a bigger warning sign.
Closed beta for several months plus weekend focused testing betas is still the mainstream norm. There have been no announcements about the former yet.
At least it's not kickstarter pay to beta (and have a pond named after you)... That is a warning sign.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
It's the "main stream norm" now. I do agree with you though in general. At the same time, I have no problem with a low price paid beta for a solid product, none of this pay in full before you "test" stuff though.
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And what else is new?
Im looking forward to this game.
The NDA is a good thing. Even thought there will be those who break it. And those who break it really are not doing anyone a service. In beta the game is essentially not done, right? Once a game is in open beta, nda is lifted, go nuts and complain all you want. At that point the public can access the open beta and see for themselves. But under a closed beta and NDA the public is not given the benifit to see whether your personal subjective claims are true for them or not. During a closed NDA beta, do the gaming public a service, and complain/ critque the game to the company.
Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't there a time in history when beta testing (all beta testing) was given only to those who actually were testing the game to enhance its quality, and not test only to only see if they liked it?
Setting aside the legal aspect, have you ever heard of the word ethics, or is that not in your vocabulary?
There Is Always Hope!
Oh they will.. don't worry about that
I honestly hope you don't work in an industry that requires you to sign an NDA. These are not just game related NDAs but are in every part of tech, research etc and if they decided to pursue with legal action they will not only make claims for money but also black list you and make it very well known to others, making it impossible for you to have any high paying career that requires discretion.
Fyi, one of my friends who just like you thought it was funny or it wasn't serious to break an NDA, and now he works at a Tim Hortons struggling to pay his bills with 60k student loan that won't be paid off any time soon. The game company I work at won't even hire him even though I vouched for him and said I would take all responsibility for anything that might occur due to his lack of discretion, in addition I would supervise him every moment on any project he worked on.
But one thing to consider is that it does depend on how sensitive the information is that was leaked. In my friends case it was important. In my opinion and seeing what happened to my friend I've realized it aint worth risking any future/current career over a game.
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You're wrong. Even as far back as EQ1 many if not most people beta testing did it as much to try it as to test it. If you gave it 2 seconds thought it would be obvious that they cant only give beta test privileges to those that will focus on testing because they have no way of knowing in advance which ones those are. Your smug holier than thou attitude is interfering with your ability to think logically.
So....can we expect some sort of data dump between now and the first CBT?
Have we ever known so little about a game before the first CBT?
PAX East stand inbetween now and the first CBT. This week should also see the answers to the "Ask us everything on Combat".
As for information level, we actually have a lot of information about the game, on par with other AAA MMOs pre-CBT I would say. The main difference is that TESO official website is crap for game info and most fansites are heavy on speculations and low on accurate reporting.
If you recall, beta testing video games have been happening way before MMO's. And gaming companies did know who were going to be those who were able to test games; some by previous experince in the gaming industry and some by the applications that were filled out.
And I fail to see where the smug holier than thou attitdue comes in. Should there not be a standard to expect from those who are testing a product? I suppose though, that everytime there is a standard in anything there will always be those who claim holier than thou becuase of said standard. But a standard should be applied if we expect there to be any progress.
If I were expecting a game to be released, I would want that game and company to have the most rigorous standard in place to test their game to ensure the best product available. Having closed NDA alpha's and beta's with gamers whose previous expericne and knowledge of the industry, with the intent of testing the product for capability and brokeness, far outwieghts someone who is just there to see if they may or may not buy the game. As I previoulsy posted, usually there is an open beta for the public in MMO's. That is the time to test to see if you like it; not in a closed NDA beta.
That all being said, I can definainlty sympathize with all of us who have bought crappy MMO's becuase we did not have an opportunity to play the game prior to buying. Previews, reviews and hype can only go so far compared to first hand experince. Therefore I wish that all MMO's gave a free trial period for a week or so, so that gamers can make an informed personal decision on whether to buy the game or not. Rememebr doing that with old console games? Going to the movie store to rent a game before you bought it? I woudl like to see something like that for MMO's instead of everyone trying to get into a beta. That would help some (but not entirly) in keeping beta testing for those who are going to test.
I lke what the Devils Advocate has to say on this topic http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/7176/Beta-Do-It-Right.html
Here's to hoping I get in. *Crosses Fingers*
Wish they'd give us the offer of paying to get into betas, that way I know I would, heh.
What happens when you log off your characters????.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFQhfhnjYMk
Dark Age of Camelot
Yeah WoW for example.
Another interesting note is that Vanilla WoW announced Beta signups during March and launched during November.