The Internet is Full of Level Headed People.
February 24, 2012
Beta testing is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s market, for those who don’t know, beta testing is typically the last step before a game hits the market. The testing is done by people outside the company and is handled in one of two ways, invitation only, or closed beta, or free to everyone, open beta. While a part of a beta you get to play the game before it’s released to the public and give the developers live feedback so that they can keep things people like, but more importantly, make tweaks to what people don’t like, and there will be things you won‘t like.
The sad thing is most people who are a part of these beta tests fail to grasp the concept of the word “test.” These games are not complete, at all. Granted they’re playable, but they are constantly being changed to ensure the finished product is the best product it can be. Some of these changes are minor calculation rebalancing, and some can be major changes that change or add to the fundamental game play systems.
So keep in mind, if you’re in a beta test, it doesn’t mean you get to play a completed game for free for a few months before it comes out. It means you’re testing a nearly completed game that the developers want you feedback on, and by feedback I don’t mean clogging their forums with dozens of angry poorly written and thought out rants after every change.