Beta Testers

[Insidious]

I wanted to comment on the well put article Melchizedek posted:

http://www.vanguardspheres.com/modul...warticle&id=51

I completely agree, and even know players who waisted away the opportunity to be such a big part of making a game great. There are two parts to making a game great. Vocal and committed testers, and open and responsive developers. I feel we have the latter part covered, but the former is just as much if not more important to the longevity of a game. Afterall games are made for the gamers.

I myself have beta tested:

SWG
WoW
MxO
Guild Wars

And a couple other non-MMO type games.

I was surprised to see how little feedback there was. There were thousands of players participating so I expected to see so much more feedback. Granted the same bugs were probably seen by many different players, but I feel as a beta tester everyone should provide feedback on any bug they experience, or even just make suggestions on how they felt about a particular aspect of the game.

I hope that anyone who gets into beta for VSOH does take this seriously. It is at times like work, but beta testers are an important part of ensuring a games success, and even influence the direction of a game after it's initial development.

[Pirotess]

Welcome Insidious. I really have to say there is a huge pool of qualified beta testers out there in the wake of so many great MMO titles. I really hope Sigil takes advantage of them.

I myself have beta tested:

Ultima Online
Everquest
Dark Age of Camelot
World of Warcraft
Everquest2

How bout the rest of you?

[Cobalt Katze]

Let's seee... I've beta tested:

Ragnarok Online
World of Warcraft
Everquest 2
Guild Wars
The Matrix Online
and currently City of Villains

[Damina]

I've beta tested:

EQ2, Eve, Horizons, um... a few other games that I can't remember at the moment... The Imagination Network! LOL they fed exed me the 15 3.5 disks that I needed to update it every time they changed it. Ahhh How I miss my 5400 baud modem...

Um... my head won't remember... I did not beta test eq1 but that's mostly because my computer I had at that time could not play eq1.

But I played eq1 from 1999 till around 2002 when I just petered out... I came back now and then, but then I got hooked to eq2, even though some people don't like it and thinks it's too cartoony (points at Aredhel) but that's not the point nor the question.

I've beta'd quite a few non-online games as well.

I sincerely hope to beta Vanguard, and will give it the same attention I did to all the others.

[Aredhel]

Hey...be nice!

I've beta'd a few things, but can't remember how to spell my own name, sooo...

I do remember EQ2 and another EQ that was way too much like Warcraft1 for my liking, and something else. I'm very careful what I beta, cuz I don't usually have a HUGE amount of time, and I like to chase the graphic problems. That usually leads to some other issues that others don't see. I'm one of those that looks UNDER the mountain, not just on top!

[Damina]

Originally Posted by Aredhel

Hey...be nice!

I've beta'd a few things, but can't remember how to spell my own name, sooo...

I do remember EQ2 and another EQ that was way too much like Warcraft1 for my liking, and something else. I'm very careful what I beta, cuz I don't usually have a HUGE amount of time, and I like to chase the graphic problems. That usually leads to some other issues that others don't see. I'm one of those that looks UNDER the mountain, not just on top!

Then you shoulda been a dwarf! hAHA I do that too. Nothing better than seeing how far you can climb before you fall through.

Lol the other day in eq2 a friend tried going over this mountain area in antonica, and she fell through the world. Got a message that said, "Moving you to a safe location. This spot is bugged. Please don't go there anymore." Or something like that, I was told what it said, so I don't have it in my logs anywhere.

Oh yeah, I beta'd that eq thing that was strategy, lords of everquest I think it was called...

[geckzilla]

My strengths are more in graphical and interface design than anything. As far as testing goes and people just being quiet, it's either out of laziness or because they are afraid to hurt someone's feelings. Personally I'm about as outspoken and blunt as it gets which tends to land me in bad spots since I'm about as tactless as an ... ogre. For the sake of a fantasy setting. If you've got something to say, say it! Doesn't matter what it is about. It's not just spotting bugs and glitches. I get into this stuff and then end up wishing I could actually work on the design rather than just making comments but that's just my nature. hehe

[Sablehawk]

I've beta tested

World of Warcraft
Shadowbane
Horizons
Everquest
Everquest 2
Neocron
Eve Online
Asheron's Call

and hopefully soon I'll be able to add Vanguard onto that list

Sablehawk

[Amoonsinas]

I've only Beta tested World of Warcraft. (Was there since day one of the open beta)

But I've played EverQuest for 3 years, and I'm currently playing Guild Wars as well. (And WoW too.)

[Shinho]

Jeez I'm abit embarrassed to list how many MMOG's I've tested but hey what the hell.

Anarchy Online ( Closed beta )
Dark Ages of Camelot ( US and Europe )
Earth and Beyond ( Closed )
EVE-Online ( Closed )
Planetside ( Closed )
Neocron ( Closed )
Jumpgate ( Closed )
SWG ( Closed ) and the JTL expansion
Horizons ( Closed )
City of Heroes ( Closed )
City of Villains ( Open )
Lineage 2 ( Closed )
World of Warcraft ( Open )
Auto Assault ( Closed )
Guild Wars

So there you have have it, that has been my quest to find a replacement for EQ and NONE of them managed to pull me in.