Beef
06-01-2009, 01:32 PM
First of all I would like to apologize if any of the items that are to be discussed below have appeared elsewhere in the past, my excuse would be the number of threads already present in the forums. Additionally I saw fit to separate this topic into an outside thread to attract more attention.
This is aimed mainly toward the STO crew, but I would also ask anyone who reads this to finish reading and attempt to comment all my... emmmm... typings.
First of all I would like to say that I do not exactly agree that beta testing is so serious as many people say it is. For a well known game (to avoid advertising I'll not say which one) I created a mod myself and tested it myself. Of course everything comes out beta at first, so did my mod. I first tested beta myself and I have to say that it had some fun despite the fact of required patience it did have some fun. Trying to intentionally break the games rules, cheat, get to not-supposed-to-reach places, be despicable and play dirty does provide entertainment because its a game AND its a beta, so it is not only allowed, but you have to crack down the rules just to see where you can and if you can. Also, falling through the floor for no apparent reason as said in the example is not exactly something to cry about also.
Now to the serious part.
Beta suggestion
To summarize I have my share of beta testing of my own stuff and additionally I am a programmer so have a unique perspective about new and unreleased software. I must say that closed beta testing is somewhat overstated. Having a limited amount of personnel for error removal testing is slow going and does not necessary yield the right results, so (if any admins are observing the thread of course) I would consider open beta with simple error reporting as a fast way to hammer out graphical and performance anomalies in the game.
I am not saying to just open the doors and funnel everyone in but lets say about 200 people that are at least small time trekkies so that they know at least how the game should be running at star trek style. Then add a selected group of people (say 50 from the 200) that are characteristically disgusted by graphics being out of the ordinary, a bunch of them to be despicable cheaters (100 from the 200 would do) to see how far one would scam his way through, and the rest who are experienced MMORPG players who like to explore. They would snoop around, see if something is not right then call somebody to check it out and move on to look for another anomaly (not space anomaly but game anomaly :D ). And you have a summarily functioning system for game improvement selected only for about first 200 people that fill in the positions mentioned above.
And if you are worried about internal security - don't be. Half life 2 was also stolen unfinished and packed to Russia, that only caused the rest of the world to turn away at disgust, embarrassing the hacker that did that.
Wireless interned and other dial-up
Along with me, some users have wireless internet at home with the modem the size of a USB MP3 player, which does offer a connection (for me at least) of up to 7,2mbit/s. Having such a radical piece of equipment, would it be possible to apply for beta testing as well? I believe it should, since wireless internet is an ever-faster growing piece of hardware that is gaining more and more users every day.
>>An ever growing world<<
Believe it or not, many online game projects have collapsed because the computer world was advancing too fast for them to keep up graphically. I believe that STO is not finished yet because of the magnitude of the environment the game contains. One could allways build something smaller and then upgrade is gradually ( the advice applies if the levels are still being added in STO, of course... :D ). Take MU online for example (sorry, but its the only one i can think of...), new environments have been added attracting many new players in various servers. In STO it is even easier given the fact that the environment is limitless space :D . I know that you will add them later anyway, but having less now is a way of getting things done easier and faster.
I have many more to say but my hand is about to fall of from all this typing.:rolleyes: I hope I haven't offended the STO crew, no harm was intended but I am programmer (noob but still a programmer!) and have gone through some of what I am advising.
I hope you will not mind if I add threads with more if any considerable interest appears...
This is aimed mainly toward the STO crew, but I would also ask anyone who reads this to finish reading and attempt to comment all my... emmmm... typings.
First of all I would like to say that I do not exactly agree that beta testing is so serious as many people say it is. For a well known game (to avoid advertising I'll not say which one) I created a mod myself and tested it myself. Of course everything comes out beta at first, so did my mod. I first tested beta myself and I have to say that it had some fun despite the fact of required patience it did have some fun. Trying to intentionally break the games rules, cheat, get to not-supposed-to-reach places, be despicable and play dirty does provide entertainment because its a game AND its a beta, so it is not only allowed, but you have to crack down the rules just to see where you can and if you can. Also, falling through the floor for no apparent reason as said in the example is not exactly something to cry about also.
Now to the serious part.
Beta suggestion
To summarize I have my share of beta testing of my own stuff and additionally I am a programmer so have a unique perspective about new and unreleased software. I must say that closed beta testing is somewhat overstated. Having a limited amount of personnel for error removal testing is slow going and does not necessary yield the right results, so (if any admins are observing the thread of course) I would consider open beta with simple error reporting as a fast way to hammer out graphical and performance anomalies in the game.
I am not saying to just open the doors and funnel everyone in but lets say about 200 people that are at least small time trekkies so that they know at least how the game should be running at star trek style. Then add a selected group of people (say 50 from the 200) that are characteristically disgusted by graphics being out of the ordinary, a bunch of them to be despicable cheaters (100 from the 200 would do) to see how far one would scam his way through, and the rest who are experienced MMORPG players who like to explore. They would snoop around, see if something is not right then call somebody to check it out and move on to look for another anomaly (not space anomaly but game anomaly :D ). And you have a summarily functioning system for game improvement selected only for about first 200 people that fill in the positions mentioned above.
And if you are worried about internal security - don't be. Half life 2 was also stolen unfinished and packed to Russia, that only caused the rest of the world to turn away at disgust, embarrassing the hacker that did that.
Wireless interned and other dial-up
Along with me, some users have wireless internet at home with the modem the size of a USB MP3 player, which does offer a connection (for me at least) of up to 7,2mbit/s. Having such a radical piece of equipment, would it be possible to apply for beta testing as well? I believe it should, since wireless internet is an ever-faster growing piece of hardware that is gaining more and more users every day.
>>An ever growing world<<
Believe it or not, many online game projects have collapsed because the computer world was advancing too fast for them to keep up graphically. I believe that STO is not finished yet because of the magnitude of the environment the game contains. One could allways build something smaller and then upgrade is gradually ( the advice applies if the levels are still being added in STO, of course... :D ). Take MU online for example (sorry, but its the only one i can think of...), new environments have been added attracting many new players in various servers. In STO it is even easier given the fact that the environment is limitless space :D . I know that you will add them later anyway, but having less now is a way of getting things done easier and faster.
I have many more to say but my hand is about to fall of from all this typing.:rolleyes: I hope I haven't offended the STO crew, no harm was intended but I am programmer (noob but still a programmer!) and have gone through some of what I am advising.
I hope you will not mind if I add threads with more if any considerable interest appears...