Beta =/= Free Game

Massively recently reported on the current use of Beta testing with regards to upcoming game releases; in particular several big name game developers using this period in an MMOs life as a kind of publicity campaign instead of the 'intended' usage.

Now, coming from a non-advertising background as I do, I can see a certain amount of logic in this decision. What better way to get free publicity than to allow hundreds of adoring fanbois early access to your game to see all the shiney new concepts you've incorporated?

Clever huh? All those forums and fansites, eager to get news of your latest product. Let them in, let them drool and let them run off to talk to their friends.

...NDA or not.

On the other hand, what if you've not done as well as you thought?

What if your game doesn't have quite the impact you'd hoped it would?

Kinda shot yourself in the foot there, huh? I suppose at this point, the 'it's only Beta' defence would come out to play. But let's not get too far off track here.

The point of this post is, not just to bitch at these companies, but to highlight the growing trend of 'Beta Freeloaders' as I've come to call them.

If, like me, you've ever spent some time in the aforementioned testing, chances are you've met these people - they're quite easily recognisable.

Let us discuss their defining characteristics to allow for ease of identification in the future...

1) General Whine-a-lot
/1 OMFG WTF, WHY DONT THE CRAFTING STATIONS WORK...THIS CLASS IS SO BROKEN...GODDAMN PLACEHOLDER QUEST REWARDS AGAIN LOL...FFS I'M STUCK IN THE TELEPORT PAD AGAIN...WHERE IS MY CAPSLOCK KEY?

This person has an incessant need to highlight every...single...fault they find in game using the power of General Chat. God forbid they actually figure out what the /bug or /report functions are for.

And use them.

Christ, if they actually ever did what they were supposed to, games would ship in near-mint condition!

2) Mr Experience
"When I was in 'X' MMO Beta they totally did things different, these devs are like sooo behind the times"

Bow to the wisdom of this tester. If you spend more than 5 minutes listening to him/her, they'll have you believing that they are single-handedly responsible for helping to solve 85% of the bugs in all the previous MMOs they've been involved in.

Gets all their info from reading other forums.

Has never tested before.

Has probably only ever played WoW.

3) The 'Rival Game Developer'
"FFS, are you kidding me? A memory leak? This shouldn't have made it out of Alpha. It'll never release on time. You guys heard about the new Bioware MMO?"

This guy is like a nerfed version of General whine-a-lot but more insidious. Instead of highlighting a blissful ignorance of testing by spamming the chat channels, he/she seldom speaks except to make pointedly relevant but negative comments. His understanding of game mechanics means that his comments occasionally carry some weight with those who notice.

His manifesto consists solely of killing the game before it even launches.

Probably works for Blizzard.

4) The uninformed Beta Virgin

"Well, doesn't look like I'll be buying this...too many bugs *sigh*. When does Warhammer come out, LOL"

Actually thinks that the game will ship in it's current form.

Unfortunately, he/she is probably right.

It's this last character that we should dwell on for a second as it's the crux of this issue. As much as developers are prepared to take the risk of using Beta as a publicity exercise and as much as they are prepared to let as many people into their game in its final round of testing as possible, this practice is hurting them far more than it's helping them.

By using this system, they are encouraging more and more of a certain type of gamer into their Beta stage. The type who are using that period to decide whether or not this is a game that they might like to spend some money on.

A place where they could settle for a while.

Unfortunately, these people are just playing a demo as far as they're concerned. They are looking at a game with a very narrow view. Instead of trying to break the game and help the developers by highlighting faults and bugs, they're just doing the normal run of the mill stuff like questing and grinding.

The knock-on effect is that many of the faults experienced by players, who actually go out and explore, will never have been reported to the devs prior to the general release.

I'm not saying that developers should screen their testers, I mean that's not even practicable...is it?

*mental note to self: consider drafting a 'Tester Tard Test'*

Even hiring a team of 'button-mashers' wouldn't help your cause either. No, what you do want is a tester who goes out and tries to do the stuff that you aren't supposed to be able to do.

The player who wall-walks entire zones just to try and find a way to drop through the world.

The player who tries to make objects and items do things they were never designed to do.

The game-breaking type of stuff.

I sincerely think that one of the main reasons so many games in recent years have been released with questionable content and problems comes down to inadequate testing. Developers are resigned to the fact that the majority of bugs will make it through the Beta phase and will be dealt with on general release.

I'm not for a second saying that the publishing/distribution companies behind the game don't play a fucking HUGE part in this equation, but that's an extra can of worms I don't even want to consider opening right now.

Gamers in a lot of MMOs lately have effectively been paying to Beta test for the first few months in the life of a new release. I'm not going to point fingers at any game in particular but I'm sure quite a lot of you already have a game or two in mind.

I know I do.

But the bottom line is this: companies need to realise that releasing substandard products is not an option. Players need to realise that if they're going to apply for a slot in testing, they need to actually test the game...not test-drive it.

After all, the future of the game you are testing now is firmly in your hands. If the game launches and fails and you didn't give 100% to reporting glitches, bugs and crashes, you are at least partly to blame for its failure.

All I ask is that you think on this for more than 2 seconds before you eSign that next NDA.

/2cents