How do people get to play-test Beta episodes?

[Game of Bones.8975]

With every game episode it is tested prior to release. Because there is a spectrum of players, from button-pushers to those who follow specific skill rotations, the game needs to work for everyone.

How do the normal players get to play-test new skills, abilities, raids, or fractals?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Only those 'test krewe' players and volunteers near the studio can play-test.

[Danikat.8537]

I'm pretty sure Anet have their own QA department who test releases, I remember seeing jobs advertised sometimes. Although I think they have also gotten local players and volunteers in when they need large numbers. Only time I remember them specifically seeking out exisiting players was when they were developing the Edge of the Mists map and some World vs. World guilds were invited to test it.

[thepenmonster.3621]

Playtest is just the first 24 hour after release isn't it?

[TheGrillfather.6587]

A common complaint has been that the game doesn't have a Public Test Server (PTR). They've been getting grief about it since launch.

[kharmin.7683]

We did get some test playing prior to the HoT release where players could mess around with the new classes and such.

[Danikat.8537]

@kharmin.7683 said:We did get some test playing prior to the HoT release where players could mess around with the new classes and such.

How did I forget about that? They also did the same thing before PoF was released, and before the base game came out. In all those cases the way to be included was to pre-purchase the game/expansion and then make sure you were around when a beta weekend was scheduled.

So I guess the answer is they don't have regular testers except their own QA department, but they will occasionally get people in when they think it's needed. For some of those you have to be in/near Seattle because they want you to go to the office to do the testing (presumably so it's on a local network and they have full control over who can access it) and for other tests the criteria to be included varies depending on the test.

[Game of Bones.8975]

Were there positive changes made? Was there a place for those who participated to give feedback whether it be canned or open-ended questions?

[Dante.1763]

@Game of Bones.8975 said:Were there positive changes made? Was there a place for those who participated to give feedback whether it be canned or open-ended questions?

if i recall correctly they set up a dedicated forum sub genre for the pre release play through.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@"Game of Bones.8975" said:Were there positive changes made? Was there a place for those who participated to give feedback whether it be canned or open-ended questions?

Here's some information on Betas: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Beta

[Westenev.5289]

If I recall correctly, players used the HoT beta to play the Elite Specs or Verdent Brink, but didn't actually take the time to actually review the content. I'm guessing that's why the PoF beta was more toned down, and treated more like a preview than a beta test.

[ShadowCatz.8437]

@Westenev.5289 said:If I recall correctly, players used the HoT beta to play the Elite Specs or Verdent Brink, but didn't actually take the time to actually review the content. I'm guessing that's why the PoF beta was more toned down, and treated more like a preview than a beta test.

Most PTS (ESO have one) and BETA testing attract a player population that are more interested in what gear or mats that will become the next meta which also have the side effect that market prices and farming is more in focus then actual game play. Depending on what is presented at PTS server it also leads to changes in demand on in game items (market prices). In ESO which use guild based market system it means the larger guilds prepare to buy up those items before those prices will go up from demand. Guilds do have limitation for how many members they can have in single guild and how many items they can store/sell, so there is a lot of fake guilds to do exactly this kind of storage. In GW2 pre-HoT we had also something like this happen with auction house (TP) where some wealthy people bought up large quantity of mats/items that would become popular to buy due to changes from meta and new profession to play (Revenant). ANet did some restriction to prevent this kind of action to go out of hand on TP.

It is also time consuming to create and make a fully playable character (which might be reset during test phases without notice even when beta or PTS is open), so most player don't bother with PTS as it take away time from earning any in game wealth (from playing on the actual account that will keep all increase in wealth).

Testing means that player need to have at least double space (and some knowledge about how technology work) as you will need download a dedicated copy of game client. You will also be willing to do trail and error when client doesn't work as expected (unexpected behaviour or even crashes) and keep tabs on developers information, so it is a bit more then just to join up as a beta tester for a MMO for a free ticket into next version of what game will have to offer.

There where one developer (from ANet) which where very active on forum and wanted to have input on how we felt Revenant worked at that time from what I recall. Later there where complaints that ANet didn't do enough changes that had been reported for game play with Revenant. We had some base line for what to look for during testing, but those where very few if I recall it correctly.

[XenoSpyro.1780]

There are no beta tests. That's why every episode release is followed by half a dozen mid-Tequatl client updates because the story instances can't stop crashing the entire megaserver.