Beta, To spoil or not to spoil!
Are you someone who yearns to know a secret OR do you abhor those who know a thing and have a wanton desire to tell it?
Another way to ask these questions would be: Do you want to beta test LotRO OR do you want to experience LotRO with others with no prior knowledge of its contents? It’s funny, I’m sure there are people on both sides of this topic, but if asked I’d bet most, if not all, would say “Yes! I want in beta!”
Interesting concept, “beta”. Beta testing supposed to be “work”; no one is supposed to have “fun”. The developers have created the game and tested the game for themselves (in the secretive “alpha”) but if you stare at something long enough you become blind to its minute flaws. Beta is a way to test the game with fresh eyes that hopefully can find the imperfections so these “bugs” can be found and corrected before shipping the millions of copies of the game to the stores for purchase. And...heaven forbid the game launches with flaws that slows game play or worse, crashes the computer.
The beta testers job is to press every key, click every in game rock tree, blade of grass, NPC, door, chest, animal, try every possible swing of a weapon or draw of a bow, wear every permutation of armor, cast every spell, walk, run, swim, and jump not once, but three or four or more times all the while munching on their favorite high carb, high fat, high sugar snack and drinking gallons of caffeine and sugar. Once a “bug” is found they repeat it over and over, ad nauseum…..and then report it to the devs. And after all this, the devoted beta tester is not satisfied. They dive back into the game and look for further evidence of bad lines of code.
Now, most of you who said “Yes! I want in beta!” are probably not devoted beta testers who want to help the developers eliminate or at least minimize game play flaws, but rather want “inside” information about the game before launch…so you know where all the “cool” loot is located.
So, again, I ask (and should be asking myself) are you someone who yearns to know a secret or do you abhor those who know a thing and have a wanton desire to tell it?
I remember, at 15 years of age, sitting in the theater watching Star Wars: A New Hope the week of its original release. Nothing, and I mean nothing like this movie had ever been seen in the history of the human species. (Yes, 2001: A Space Odyssey for it's time was a great movie; but let's face it would bomb at the theaters if released for the first time today.) Since 1977 sci-fi fans have demanded nothing short of perfection and have yeaned to get the inside scoop on the next Star Wars Movie (or what ever sci-fi genre film was debuting). Some enjoy going into the theaters with no knowledge of the film while others would enjoy not only reading the final version of the script but being present during the filming of every scene before seeing the movie. I must confess, I'm one of the later.
You can imagine the anxiety of someone of my generation going to see Revenge of the Sith, a movie that many of us waited 27 years to see. For other Star Wars films, I usually read the novelization and scanned the web for any hint about the film before buying my ticket. But, I thought I'd try it the other way for the last Star Wars movie and refused to read the book (although I bought it the day it hit the bookstores), would not visit any website that even remotely hinted of containing the script or any spoilers and even desperately avoided watching the movie trailers. I wanted to go to the theater without any knowledge of what would happen in the movie and be "totally blown away".
Well, I was disappointed. I loved the movie and have watched it many times since it debuted. On the third viewing, the tears I thought I would shed in the theater on May 29th finally came as I enjoyed every nuance of the film as well as mourned the last of the Star Wars movies.
I feel the same anxiety regarding the debut of Lord of the Rings Online. Being involved in the beta test would not spoil the game for me and, in fact, would most likely enhance my enjoyment of the game once launched. I belive those invited to beta test a game should consider the invitation an honor and should strive to be a good little beta tester and go after those bugs as eagerly as we'll go after those vile and corrupt Balrocs after game launch.
So....how about it? Do you really want to be a beta tester? Do you really want to know the “inside” scoop on LotRO or do you want to savor every nuance of the game as it is revealed to you for the first time?
Another way to ask these questions would be: Do you want to beta test LotRO OR do you want to experience LotRO with others with no prior knowledge of its contents? It’s funny, I’m sure there are people on both sides of this topic, but if asked I’d bet most, if not all, would say “Yes! I want in beta!”
Interesting concept, “beta”. Beta testing supposed to be “work”; no one is supposed to have “fun”. The developers have created the game and tested the game for themselves (in the secretive “alpha”) but if you stare at something long enough you become blind to its minute flaws. Beta is a way to test the game with fresh eyes that hopefully can find the imperfections so these “bugs” can be found and corrected before shipping the millions of copies of the game to the stores for purchase. And...heaven forbid the game launches with flaws that slows game play or worse, crashes the computer.
The beta testers job is to press every key, click every in game rock tree, blade of grass, NPC, door, chest, animal, try every possible swing of a weapon or draw of a bow, wear every permutation of armor, cast every spell, walk, run, swim, and jump not once, but three or four or more times all the while munching on their favorite high carb, high fat, high sugar snack and drinking gallons of caffeine and sugar. Once a “bug” is found they repeat it over and over, ad nauseum…..and then report it to the devs. And after all this, the devoted beta tester is not satisfied. They dive back into the game and look for further evidence of bad lines of code.
Now, most of you who said “Yes! I want in beta!” are probably not devoted beta testers who want to help the developers eliminate or at least minimize game play flaws, but rather want “inside” information about the game before launch…so you know where all the “cool” loot is located.
So, again, I ask (and should be asking myself) are you someone who yearns to know a secret or do you abhor those who know a thing and have a wanton desire to tell it?
I remember, at 15 years of age, sitting in the theater watching Star Wars: A New Hope the week of its original release. Nothing, and I mean nothing like this movie had ever been seen in the history of the human species. (Yes, 2001: A Space Odyssey for it's time was a great movie; but let's face it would bomb at the theaters if released for the first time today.) Since 1977 sci-fi fans have demanded nothing short of perfection and have yeaned to get the inside scoop on the next Star Wars Movie (or what ever sci-fi genre film was debuting). Some enjoy going into the theaters with no knowledge of the film while others would enjoy not only reading the final version of the script but being present during the filming of every scene before seeing the movie. I must confess, I'm one of the later.
You can imagine the anxiety of someone of my generation going to see Revenge of the Sith, a movie that many of us waited 27 years to see. For other Star Wars films, I usually read the novelization and scanned the web for any hint about the film before buying my ticket. But, I thought I'd try it the other way for the last Star Wars movie and refused to read the book (although I bought it the day it hit the bookstores), would not visit any website that even remotely hinted of containing the script or any spoilers and even desperately avoided watching the movie trailers. I wanted to go to the theater without any knowledge of what would happen in the movie and be "totally blown away".
Well, I was disappointed. I loved the movie and have watched it many times since it debuted. On the third viewing, the tears I thought I would shed in the theater on May 29th finally came as I enjoyed every nuance of the film as well as mourned the last of the Star Wars movies.
I feel the same anxiety regarding the debut of Lord of the Rings Online. Being involved in the beta test would not spoil the game for me and, in fact, would most likely enhance my enjoyment of the game once launched. I belive those invited to beta test a game should consider the invitation an honor and should strive to be a good little beta tester and go after those bugs as eagerly as we'll go after those vile and corrupt Balrocs after game launch.
So....how about it? Do you really want to be a beta tester? Do you really want to know the “inside” scoop on LotRO or do you want to savor every nuance of the game as it is revealed to you for the first time?
posted by Anonymous | 5/19/2006 06:33:00 PM
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