Bethesda Looking For Game Testers

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If you are at least 18 years of age and live in Texas or Maryland, Bethesda wants you to playtest its games.

The past couple years we’ve been gathering helpful feedback from those of you that have participated in playtesting at our Dallas Play Test lab. This feedback has been imperative to improving games like The Evil Within and Wolfenstein: The New Order. As a result of the success from the Texas lab, we’re looking to add another one near our Maryland headquarters.
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viscountalpha said:
If its full on game testing then that's a brutal job.
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I did this once, thought, "Hey! Get paid to play games I love? Fuck yeah!" Then when you actually get down to it you find out it's a boring experience of filling out forms and doing repetative actions for hours and then by the end of the play testing you don't want to play the game anymore because you're sick of it.
 
I thought I already play-test for all developers? I mean, since 99% of the games released seem to be in alpha stage anyway......
 
^ Well it IS Bethesda. I loved Fallout 3&NV and still play Skyrim, but them bugs!
 
NickJames said:
I did this once, thought, "Hey! Get paid to play games I love? Fuck yeah!" Then when you actually get down to it you find out it's a boring experience of filling out forms and doing repetative actions for hours and then by the end of the play testing you don't want to play the game anymore because you're sick of it.
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That is how it is. I do vocational counseling and I can't tell you how many guys come into my office looking to be game testers. All they think you do is play games and get paid for it. Once you start talking about paperwork, descriptive writing, repetitive actions, and what they get paid they get all bummed out.
 
Bethesda actually test their games before launch?!?! :eek:

I though they didn't care if the game works or not...
Still frustrated over them destroying my Fallout 3 saved games. Never more Bethesda...
 
Climber said:
That is how it is. I do vocational counseling and I can't tell you how many guys come into my office looking to be game testers. All they think you do is play games and get paid for it. Once you start talking about paperwork, descriptive writing, repetitive actions, and what they get paid they get all bummed out.
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This doesn't surprise me, at all haha
 
I remember doing a single day playtest of Bethesda's title Delta V. Or I was supposed to. I showed up and they had apparently overbooked testers for the day so I never got to try it until months later when they actually had a demo running in the Babbages in a local mall. At the time I worked in a small software shop and thing like going to the developer to try out their new game was quite the big deal, since the only way to find out about it was pretty much word of mouth.

I really didn't have a problem missing the chance at the time, except later I found out that they entered the testers in a drawing to win a fancy-assed racing chair and controller setup (I think a flying yoke, but it could've been a steering wheel). That kind of bummed me out.

So no pay. Just refreshments and the chance to try the game. If you got in. :rolleyes:
 
Khaos Kid said:
So, in general, how much does a game test get paid?
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I'm in DFW and just signed up. This one doesn't pay anything. It's a public service. Though it does mention free games and swag.

Volunteer testers. I guess that helps to explain why Bethesda games are so buggy.
 
I think most of you have the wrong idea. This is less testing for bugs and more testing for opinions about is it even fun and what not.
 
Khaos Kid said:
So, in general, how much does a game test get paid?
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Depends on company and exactly what level of tester you are. Most get minimum wage, some get swag and perks. If you have excellent writing, communication, and computer skills it is a great way to get your foot in the door and move up the ranks. I've known more than a few who landed full time positions in writing, coding, graphics, and database management because of their skill sets and willingness to start at the bottom.
 
Playing games all day would be horrible enough, imagine playing broken games all day.
 
viscountalpha said:
If its full on game testing then that's a brutal job.
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Considering how buggy Bethesda games are when they release(Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout, etc....), this is one absolutely sadistic line of work. For me, playing video games is a way to relax. That is partially why I steer clear of games that require massive work(grinding) like Ja-RPG's because it becomes work and not fun.
 
Game testing is the lowest paid position at any game company and the turn over rate is ridiculous. Back in the 90's I worked for EA at Redwood Shores for 3 years and it was a low paying thankless job that was looked down on by just about everyone not in QA. The only saving grace was the group I worked for (Janes) had good management and they tried to take care of us as best they could. I also worked with 3 good buddies/roommates, so that was fun. In short, brutally long hours, low pay, and general disdain from most of the company. I did however get some revenge by shitting up the marketing folks bathroom everyday. :D
 
This is a horror show job. Seriously. Testing is a thankless, unappreciated, and disrespected job.You will get shit on at every turn.
 
Climber said:
That is how it is. I do vocational counseling and I can't tell you how many guys come into my office looking to be game testers. All they think you do is play games and get paid for it. Once you start talking about paperwork, descriptive writing, repetitive actions, and what they get paid they get all bummed out.
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tell them about the hours at crunch time lol
enjoy your 18 hour days 7 days a well for 3 months or more
 
this is not actual qa work but play test sessions. Most companies pay someone to find random people who fit the profile and they come in for free. In this case they are just trolling for play test sessions. Think 45 minutes of playing 15 minute bathroom break, and an hour of answering questions about what you think about the game.

Actually QA work is horrible. You will burn out playing a game for 16 hours a day, doing repetitive tasks then laid off with no warning when the game finally goes gold. Most QA bugs are ignored unless they are blocking or the wrong person sees them. Software development is expensive but if any other product than games was developed the way most studios build games they would be bankrupt with in weeks after their product was released. Anyone thinking to get into QA don't. It used to be a foot in the foot, but most game devs these days do not want any one with QA experience working for them. Not sure why but mods are the way into the industry these days.
 
Beta testing for Bethesda? Oh boy. I've been "beta-testing" for them ever since I got Morrowind.

To be honest I have to regularly resort to professional QA methodologies to get their games working properly: doing binary searches to find offending mods (by disabling half of my mod list and seeing what happens), using Procmon and other tools to pinpoint access violation errors, even going through save files with hex editors to try to fix "hopelessly lost" saves. Though I didn't get paid for any of that...
 
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