Who else is tired of not getting into betas?

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Apr 5, 2008
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Honestly. Whether it be a signup only beta, a randomly picked beta, or anything else, who else is tired of not getting in? Obviously they cannot hand pick everyone, and it is understandable. But does it not piss you off that people that only want to play the game early/for free, offer no feedback, and all that get in and you don't? It seems they don't give a shit about people that really want to help them sometimes...one thing is that they don't check people either. I'm a bit sore about not getting into the APB beta....half of the people that signed up said they were members of the press and stuff like that- and I'm pretty sure some of them got in because of it. It's just bullshit honestly.
/rant
 
Yeah I feel ya'. I wanted to be a part of The Old Repbulic but, everyone and their brother tried getting in and nearly made their server explode. I remember getting into the Star Wars Galaxies Beta and that was pretty fun(ny)- I tried submitting bugs to SOE via their system (which sucked) but it was broken too lol.
 
I usually always get into closed betas. I got sick of betas period. I only play them now in open just so I can decide if I want to buy the game.
 

Betas pretty much aren't used for getting user feedback anymore as far as I can tell.

At this point, they're pretty much there to build hype around a game, act as some sort of pre-order incentive, or simply stress-test a game. The only time a dev would make changes to the beta due to direct user feedback would be in a situation where there would be a large and nearly unanimous complaint.

Think of any general gaming forum on IGN, gamefaqs, or other mainstream site. Once you have that in your mind, you should then shudder as you think of trying to sort through all of those terrible, terrible ideas/complaints/idiots in order to find a rare voice of sanity, and then realize why devs won't do it.
 
True closed betas for gameplay testing, I don't have the time to game like I use to. I had fun beta testing stuff like the original Everquest.

The load testing betas do piss me off though. They use to be open, which was great to go in and try out the mechanics and see what you can expect the load on the servers at launch will be. Now they are usually "open" betas, open only to pre-orders. It's almost as bad as restricting demos to pre-orders.
 
It's hard to take the concept seriously when fileplanet does stuff like "sign up for a premium account and we'll let you try the beta of blank". I got into the Huxley CBT and i kid you not, 40% of the people on there would have feedback threads along the lines of "this lag is so [terrible], I can't believe I paid 10 dollars for [this]". One of the admins who even helped pick out CBT testers said he was focusing on getting older players for more indepth feedback and a more mature early game community. Yeah, glad that worked out.

As for APB, yeah I tried to apply for Beta, didn't make it in, but with the amount of info we had to give up, I'd imagine they have a pretty good idea of who to select. Crossing my fingers for Secret World though. I'd really love to see these games live out what I imagine they could be.
 
As far as I can see alot of "betas" nowadays are just for promotional purposes, they are a way for companies to have a demo without having to convince their publisher to pay for a demo.
 
Ive found that it's easy to get into Betas if you have hardware that isn't common to the majority of PC gamers. The beta invite is very likely if you have new hardware.

Can I ask why you want to be a beta tester? In my experience beta testing is tedious and can sometimes be frustrating.On a few occasions I've had an interest in helping the developers make the game as successful as possible, but I can only think of 2 games in my life that I actually felt that interested in helping the developers, simply because of my enthusiasm for the franchise.
 
Ive found that it's easy to get into Betas if you have hardware that isn't common to the majority of PC gamers. The beta invite is very likely if you have new hardware.

Can I ask why you want to be a beta tester? In my experience beta testing is tedious and can sometimes be frustrating.On a few occasions I've had an interest in helping the developers make the game as successful as possible, but I can only think of 2 games in my life that I actually felt that interested in helping the developers, simply because of my enthusiasm for the franchise.

I like gaming, and I like to play good games. I (would) like helping developers or someone who has put lots of time into a full fledged game to help them make it better for the community as a whole. It isn't for all games, but for games that I can see succeeding or want to exceed.

I have a decent system IMO...pretty sure it was higher than most who signed up on the forum I had a thread upon it on, and they got in no problem signing up way after me...
 
Back when I had tons of time to play, I got into every beta from the original EQ up until the more recent games.

I think the main reason fewer people seem to get in is that there are FAR more people applying for them than there ever used to be.

I've gotten into a couple recently, mostly I'm guessing due to being in previous tests by those same companies and actually providing constructive feedback about game mechanics. A couple of years back during one beta test they actually offered me a job working in house, but sadly it fell apart due to several factors out of my control.

All you can do is keep applying and hope, or just pay for a Fileplanet sub to get into some.
 
This whole thread is just plain silly. 10 years ago, getting into a beta was a big deal. Now days they almost hand out beta invites as if they were demo's. It's almost like the marketing department got their fingerprints all over it.
 
just keep applying, i still get into them every now and then, been in at least 15 or more over the years. it does happen. being on a games forum way before launch can help, and talking to the developers in person sure does not hurt, ive met a few personally, funcom, stardock, and the neverwinter nights 2 guys among a few of them, though never got into the beta that way. but sometimes they remember you if u get a chance to talk to them, though im slowly but eventually trying to get my foot in the door somewhere. If u want a job at it, Cali and Seattle, and Texas are some of the better places to be i often see paid temp Q&A testers listed, sometimes its $10 or less a hour but if your just outta high school etc. thats not too bad, beats flipping burgers. trouble is the offers are few and far between and usually have to be living near said developer.

But seriously keep trying if its something u like, ive sometimes had invites to 2 or 3 at the same time, so it does, happen, just might not be the game you were really wanting it to be. like big dog said, some people want it as a status symbol, i wanted it to see how the game develops, to try to find bugs, and give feedback when i can. Q&A is not the field i want to work in, but id start there if i had to. I know someone who is a Q&A tester for a small house, and he cant stand to test anything else as it takes so much of his time, so be careful what you wish for.
 
Become a software QA tester, find jobs at game companies, and you'll play all the betas you want.
Prepare to ingest a lot of cock if you want a job like this.
 
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