Comments on: What can beta leaks tell us about upcoming games?

By: Da Newz - Delay, CE & March Newsletter « Waaagh! A Warhammer Online Blog

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:05:08 +0000

[...] West Karana muses “What can beta leaks tell us about upcoming games?” [...]

By: MMORPG Info » News Round-Up

MMORPG Info » News Round-Up — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:49:35 +0000

[...] has written an interesting commentary on Betaleaks, offering coverage of games in beta and what the testers are leaking. Tipa’s views on why [...]

By: JoBildo

JoBildo — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:19:34 +0000

Tipa, apparently people who think like we do are in the wrong with the issue…

http://bildos.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-am-like-so-totally-hurt.html

By: Silvermink

Silvermink — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:59:49 +0000

I worry more about games if there are too few NDA breakers. It is usually a sign the beta is too small to really test anything. AoC is due in 2 months, should be lots of people complaining everywhere, even if just nitpicking. Maybe it’s a sign the game is too good and they don’t want to risk being kicked out but I’m not believing that.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:54:33 +0000

Maybe, but that says little about what they are about to change/fix/tune, and this is why people should honor their NDAs instead of shoot for their fifteen seconds of fame by writing up their subjective opinions and breaking their promise not to do so. I think ANY game will come out poorly at some points in beta — and I would *hope* for that. It shows they are trying lots of things and seeing what is fun and what fails before they settle on their perfect game mechanic. I’m far more inclined to listen to word about game-breaking issues (like, this game runs like a dog on every system and crashes twelve times an hour) than opinions on what is good or bad about the game design, since that can change quickly.

By: Relmstein

Relmstein — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:50:30 +0000

Based on the posts on that site I would say that Age of Conan is better off then Warhammer right now though that could just be because it doesn’t have as much hype to live up to.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:17:37 +0000

Well, sounds like Perpetual listened to you all about Gods and Heroes. The buzz coming off that game was horrid. Not as bad as Dark & Light was, but I was getting worried about it. That sounds like a win for the beta process there. They canned the game rather than release it.

Re: LotRO — I was in the open beta for that. They locked everyone to a level fifteen cap, though, so nobody knew how little there was to look forward to (at the time) past that level. So was is it a true open beta if you could only go to the places they’d finished?

And hey, I don’t try to provoke people, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em :) If the AoC or WAR devs want to show me something different, well, my beta apps are in their trash bins.

By: Openedge1

Openedge1 — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:05:32 +0000

You always are so provocative when you write…get everyone riled up …(Vanguard = Geek, AoC = Boobies and WAR = WoW….HAHA)…good stuff

I tell you what, when I got into Closed Beta for Gods and Heroes, it took all of my might to not scream everywhere “OMG this sucks”…it was a horrible mess, and each time the server came up (2-3 days a week if even that…was laughable) and a new patch went in…it got worse…
I really wanted to believe they could do it though…make it good, as it had some great qualities…but, all I could think was “I hope Bioware can take this engine they bought and make something better…”…yes, now Bioware is sitting on this crap…

LOTRO was another game where I wanted to yell and fight. We constantly asked in the forums to fix this or that issue, and they coddled us…
Then deleted all the posts when moving from phase 1 to phase 2…not normal indeed. And all the issues we yelled about still existed…truly sad (and yes…those issues are still there as of today…well 2 weeks ago when I ran a trial as someone noted an item being fixed which was a gripe of mine…and no it was not..)

If these beta boards could be left alone, and instead the Dev’s take it upon themselves to peruse and find the issues which are most on the players/testers mind…maybe their game could rock…so, I for one, do not have an issue with them…as I take everything they say with a grain of salt anyways…but, maybe those Dev’s could learn a thing or two…

And as for AoC…I am really looking forward to those …uh…decapitations…yup…uhm, hum!

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:49:57 +0000

I’m sure there will be open betas for both games.

But if you REALLY want to get into closed betas, I’ve been assured the following is the way to do it.

1) Harvest multiple DXDiag.txts from the Internet, so you can send them a wide range of hardware configurations and hopefully have one or more that fit the specs they want to test.

2) Make a bunch of throwaway email addresses, and apply a few hundred times, giving different DXDiags.

3) NEVER tell them you have a blog or work for a gaming site. Apparently some companies will call you “press” just for having a blog. I don’t think this is what caught me up, but it’s just astounding that anyone would call someone press for having a blog talking about the games they are playing. Sheesh.

4) Participate a lot on their open forums. I mean, a LOT. Two or three posts a day should do it. Start a guild on the forums. Write stories about your character. For bonus points, get into a forum war with another guild, leave your guild in protest and start another guild only for hardcore players — all before you ever even see the game. Also, make a cool Photoshop forum signature with your character, class and server.

5) Learn the names of the devs, and always refer to them by their names or handles (referring to game developers as the collective “devs” is a no-no.)

Anyway. I just apply once per beta, and I’ve been looking for my beta invites to AoC, Warhammer and Chronicles of Spellborn now for, oh, at least a year now. But that’s okay. What really bugs me is not being considered for beta invites to games for which I have been a tireless advocate and huge fan. I’m an easy sell! Unfortunately, my forum surfing has pretty much nose-dived since I started blogging.

By: Captain Angry

Captain Angry — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 15:42:19 +0000

When it comes to testing I too have to endure the frustration of being on the outside looking in. I was on a beta test hot streak, starting with EQ1 and getting in on every MMO test after (AO, AC, Camelot) up until about EQ2, and then POOF nothing since.

Have I mentioned how annoyed it makes me that I signed up for the Conan pre-release forum about 3.5 years ago, participated heavily in the discussions for about 6 months, and have read their stupid newsletter every month with its “Apply for the beta!” link glowing in my face DESPITE the fact that I have BEEN SIGNED UP for years now with no invitation.

Everything I try to apply for these days gives me a “hey you big dolt, that email address is already signed up!” Oh my bad, I must have forgot signing up–my pre-9/11 era memory is a little hazy. Meanwhile it seems everyone and their mother is testing AoC or Warhammer and knows exactly what they’re going to buy, not buy, or ignore and go back to WoW. I know tests aren’t supposed to be a try before you buy, but if I want to check out any of these new games in 08 I’m going to have to pay $60 just to get my foot in the door, and then my purchase adds to their “Copies Sold” boasting rights regardless of whether I subscribe past my free month. Serenity NOW!