Friday 19 July 2013

Beta is Beta

Beta testing, another word for early access and monetization?

Perhaps that's a little bit harsh but it seems that every new big computer game that comes out these days starts off as an extended open beta. I've beta tested games now for over 10 years including titles like Star Wars Galaxies, City of Villains, a few Magic Online set releases, and literally 100s of other games. I love beta testing, that feeling of getting to see what others can't and even have the opportunity to shape the future of a game before the opening curtain rises. 

But beta isn't really what it used to be or at least not what most people expect. I know a few people now who expect Beta to be a polished game that's pretty much ready to roll. This has come from a lot of online games having beta as a load testing exercise. (For those who don't know this is where a company lets more and more people on to the game over time to make sure he servers can handle things).

A lot of people use Betas to try a game out and see if they like it. Not a bad idea you might think? But the problem with this is that a bad early beta experience can cloud your view of what could otherwise be a very good game. For example, I'm currently in the Firefall beta, a open world "shooter" mmo. The game is buggy as all hell and some things flat out don't work. A few people won't see past this and will probably never come back even after release. However, those who persisted through the bugs into the wider game (post-tutorial) got to see a very fun and refreshingly original game. 

I love Beta testing and I love giving feedback. It's also a good way to see if the game developer is willing to listen to constructive advice and make the sometimes hard decisions to change parts of their game based on player feedback during Beta. I feel like giving this feedback is essentially what beta should really be about. 

To finish off a couple of games in the beta I'm excited to see what happens with:
Dawngate - a new action RTS (or MOBA)
Firefall - a cross between a classic MMORPG and an arena shooter. 

I'm also waiting to get onto the betas for Elder Scrolls Online, Firefly Online and Wildstar. All of which are exciting games coming in the next year or so. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try em out soon. 

Til next time...