P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

WolfeGames and projects headed by Argh.

Moderators: Moderators, Content Developer

Private or Public Beta-Test?

Private
17
29%
Public
42
71%
 
Total votes: 59

User avatar
Argh
Posts: 10920
Joined: 21 Feb 2005, 03:38

P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Argh »

I have a major announcement to make:

Short of some minor buildings and other fairly minor content, Resistance is feature complete. P.U.R.E.'s next major build is almost ready to play.

I'd like to know if people would be interested in a public beta test (iow, you'd get to see a lot of stuff broken, but it'd get fixed over several releases, and you'd all get to participate), or whether I should do a private one until all the content is done, Spring bugs have been addressed, etc..

If I don't hear any major sentiment either way, I'll probably just sit on this until I get the content done, but testing and polishing out the major bugs and balance issues is going to be necessary before I can release this, so I'd still like to hear who's going to be up for testing.
User avatar
knorke
Posts: 7971
Joined: 22 Feb 2006, 01:02

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by knorke »

Iam selfish and want to play some new mod with fresh units, so make it public :roll:
User avatar
BlueTemplar
Posts: 314
Joined: 28 Oct 2007, 22:37

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by BlueTemplar »

You'll get a lot more feedback from a 8vs8 multiplayer game, than from a 1vs1AI...

And, for my part - I really want to play it, now that I found how to fix the sound problem! :-)
User avatar
Guessmyname
Posts: 3301
Joined: 28 Apr 2005, 21:07

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Guessmyname »

I voted public, mostly because you hardly send anything to us beta testers anyway :P
User avatar
chillaaa
Posts: 234
Joined: 16 Mar 2005, 00:12

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by chillaaa »

PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!
User avatar
Argh
Posts: 10920
Joined: 21 Feb 2005, 03:38

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Argh »

Well, it appears that the people have spoken (er, at least 25 of them at any rate).

I'll release one last private build, just so GMN can see why I've been sitting on it, then when it's in a slightly-less scary state gameplay-wise, I'll put up the first public betas. Just be warned that if you're expecting it to be perfectly polished or balanced... it ain't.
User avatar
zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
Posts: 7049
Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 13:08

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by zwzsg »

Private. It generates more buzz and hype. It makes the selected happy few feel more special, and so they actually do play it and give feedback instead of "Meh, someone else will do, I'll test it later". Also, PURE is cool enough that you'll get enough people signing up. And then they'll boast to their friend how cool they are to be allowed into a private beta, and their friends will want to play but can't, so it builds anticipation and desire etc... And private gives testers the sense they have the duty to properly test and report.

If you go public, the mass won't understand the concept of beta-testing, and will go "tried PURE once, was broken, will never play again".


Though my prefered route would be to do regular releases, each considered "currently final".
User avatar
Argh
Posts: 10920
Joined: 21 Feb 2005, 03:38

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Argh »

my prefered route would be to do regular releases, each considered "currently final"
That's mine, too, in general. I hate releasing anything that's not polished. It's hard to judge the gameplay issues, though, without extensive beta-testing. Chicken-and-egg stuff, basically.
User avatar
Felix the Cat
Posts: 2383
Joined: 15 Jun 2005, 17:30

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Felix the Cat »

IMO private would be best for P.U.R.E - it gives you a chance to iron out all of the bugs that slipped through, gameplay and balance issues, and stuff like that before releasing the game to the community as a whole. First impressions are hard to shake off, and you wouldn't want P.U.R.E. to be thought of as inferior. A private beta test also allows you to release updates more often, more smoothly, and with assurance that only the latest update will be tested - making the testing cycle go much smoother.

The poll is worthless - it's the functional equivalent of asking whether you should give everyone $100, or only give 10 of your friends $100. It's pretty obvious what the majority will answer.
User avatar
Snipawolf
Posts: 4357
Joined: 12 Dec 2005, 01:49

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Snipawolf »

It is easier to say that 90 percent of people who clicked on public will not give feedback, but all of the people who would have privately tested would have. :-)
User avatar
bobthedinosaur
Blood & Steel Developer
Posts: 2700
Joined: 25 Aug 2004, 13:31

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by bobthedinosaur »

private or else people will think of pure as the buggy mod that wasnt worth updating constantly to give you feed back
User avatar
Otherside
Posts: 2296
Joined: 21 Feb 2006, 14:09

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Otherside »

i voted public but dunnno private might be a better idea

either way public or private xD i want to beta test :p
User avatar
overkill
Posts: 500
Joined: 02 Sep 2006, 01:15

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by overkill »

Private, for reasons the other people have stated.
User avatar
SwiftSpear
Classic Community Lead
Posts: 7287
Joined: 12 Aug 2005, 09:29

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by SwiftSpear »

The general public always believes they are mature enough to betatest. The reality is, most of them will try a game once, and if it's too buggy to be fun playing, make their decision that the game sucks and that's it. Private betatesters will already probably all not like the game by the time it's finished. But at least they will be limited in number.
User avatar
[XIII]Roxas
Posts: 182
Joined: 20 Jun 2007, 23:44

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by [XIII]Roxas »

I'd like to play it.

Voted Private, for the reasons which I fully agree with.
User avatar
overkill
Posts: 500
Joined: 02 Sep 2006, 01:15

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by overkill »

Meh, i would test and give feedback on gameplay and stuff, but that doesnt mean i will like it.
User avatar
Argh
Posts: 10920
Joined: 21 Feb 2005, 03:38

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Argh »

So, silent voters want a public beta-test, just about everybody who's posted in this thread wants it to be private... meh...

Look, tell ya what, people. Anybody who wants to be in a private betatest of P.U.R.E., send me a PM. I will sign you up and send you a copy, when it's ready enough, which it isn't yet, and won't be for at least a week, given everything else I have to get done. If I don't get at least 6 beta-test requests, then I'll just do it in public, with the assumption being that I'll be going for players off of the Forums anyhow, when it's ready, so it won't make me sad if nobody around here likes it, or hates the early betas and refuses to give later ones a chance. I just want to get feedback from people who've played it, who are open to the idea that it will not be perfect, and will require bugfixes before it's completely polished. It's always that way, with any game- even the big companies have betatests after they've already gone through basic QA, to find the rough spots...
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Neddie
Community Lead
Posts: 9406
Joined: 10 Apr 2006, 05:05

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Neddie »

I'll help you with either.
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clericvash
Posts: 1394
Joined: 05 Oct 2004, 01:05

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by clericvash »

Public, the more the merrier. If private you have to select people, and then it will be hard to find people to test with.
Torrasque
Posts: 1022
Joined: 05 Oct 2004, 23:55

Re: P.U.R.E. beta-testing.

Post by Torrasque »

Make a semi-private release :
Send it to everybody which do the minimal effort to send you a PM.
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