Beta & social media

[Bromaxulon]

It seems like the PS2 devs are pretty big on transparency. Lots of twitter posts and generally show us what's going on. With this in mind I am left wondering if this approach will be used in the beta. Will we be saddled with the usual N.D.A associated with game betas?, or will we be let off the leash and allowed to say post footage of the game on YouTube or post pictures.

What do you guys think?. IMHO leaving things relatively open would be good for the game, getting more exposure for it and leaving better avenues for feedback. Ie easier to show a bug with freely host video ( see it as it happens) as opposed to text and a screen shot.

[Hamma]

Yes there will be a standard NDA in place.

[SniperSteve]

It is best if there is an NDA in place so the devs/PR can release the information that they wish everyone to see. Since it is beta, there will certainly be a few glaring issues, and it would be best if those were not shown to the public as they will obviously be fixed by late beta/release.

[Bromaxulon]

Ok that seems fair I guess, soe has to protect its brand. Though it's not like what I proposed would not have limitations. There would be some legal devices in place to protect does interests. Perhaps such posting as I devised would be limited to a set forum with access only to beta testers.

I've done a few closed betas before so I know the drill. Though most that I have done haven't really had issues that were all that glaring. One more thing of note, companies like say stardock have been using the model I suggested with some good results. Seems to keep the community interested and gives them a sense of being apart of the design process.

Anyways just an idea. Thanks for your responses.

[RadarX]

There will of course be an NDA. Transparency can be a good thing, and those guys have done a great job of providing you guys with what's going on. The unfortunate side of Beta is many people make their purchasing/play decisions based on what they see (You can only make one first impression) so we want to ensure those impressions are polished content.

[Bromaxulon]

Straight from the horses mouth, couldn't have asked for a better response. Thanks for the info radar.

Just to clarify, didn't suggest there would no no NDA, just a less restrictive one.

[Malorn]

So very true; that first impression is critical. The best thing you could do is have a reasonably polished beta and not rush it. It'll cause a lot of buzz (NDA or no, people will still talk to friends, family, coworkers, and leak sites will always exist). You want them saying good things about how fun the game is and the quality of the experience and how they're really helping with polish and balancing and feel - not suffering through horrendous bugs and missing gameplay elements.

We have D3 and other things to occupy us; it's better that you make that great first impression to players than rush beta out the door. I may be insane not asking for beta immediately, but I want PS2 to be successful more than anything else. Its better to put it out when its ready in spite of my own crazed desire to play it.

You wow'd us all with the GDC footage, winning over countless skeptics. Beta's an opportunity to do that again AND get valuable player feedback on the experience. If we have to wait, so be it. I've been waiting over half a decade, I can wait a few more months or years.

[Shogun]

yeah, there is no beta without nda.
and it´s a must. i participated in many closed betas and on half of these games the early closed betas were nothing compared to the released game. and almost every beta sports some evil nasty gamebreaker bugs.
showing stuff like that to the public can really hurt the game.

but you know that our devs are very special, so if the nda doesn´t forbid capturing and saving footage, i see a good chance to get the permission to use certain things.
in other betas i never even tried to ask for things like that.
just make your videos, send them to the devs and ask for permission to post it.
there´s a fair chance you get your permission if the video is good enough and shows no bad bugs or too much unpolished stuff

[Bromaxulon]

yeah, there is no beta without nda.
and it´s a must. i participated in many closed betas and on half of these games the early closed betas were nothing compared to the released game. and almost every beta sports some evil nasty gamebreaker bugs.
showing stuff like that to the public can really hurt the game.

but you know that our devs are very special, so if the nda doesn´t forbid capturing and saving footage, i see a good chance to get the permission to use certain things.
in other betas i never even tried to ask for things like that.
just make your videos, send them to the devs and ask for permission to post it.
there´s a fair chance you get your permission if the video is good enough and shows no bad bugs or too much unpolished stuff

Pretty much what I ment with my post. Well after I back peddled on the "free the Info" original hippy idea I had. Note to self no posting before morning coffee.

But yea, didn't mean no NDA at all, just a less restrictive one, that's allows vid capture for bug reports and stuff. Didn't mean posted vid for just fun, moreso posting with bug crushing purpose.

[Shogun]

i am sure it will be allowed to capture stuff and send it to devs for easy bug-reproduction and -fixing.

and there will be an internal beta-forum where everything may be discussed.
so i think there´s nothing to worry about ;)

[Bromaxulon]

i am sure it will be allowed to capture stuff and send it to devs for easy bug-reproduction and -fixing.

and there will be an internal beta-forum where everything may be discussed.
so i think there´s nothing to worry about ;)

Yea nothing to worry about except getting a beta invite. :p ..... Attempts to placate various deities.

Yea not too worried, sure they will set things up well.

Dig ur username btw good book/Japanese political title

[Trolltaxi]

It's rather a beta date impression and not about NDA, but you guys seems to work the sh... out of yourselves. TRay has 16+ hours workdays, Purrfectstorm tweets almost at EU scheduele etc... Get some sleep before you burn out! :)

Or beta is rather close and you have a close deadline... hm...

[Stardouser]

The problem with NDA is that if they start off with evil things like (insert evil casualization feature here), we won't have a chance to organize a campaign against it until it's too late.

[EVILPIG]

The problem with NDA is that if they start off with evil things like (insert evil casualization feature here), we won't have a chance to organize a campaign against it until it's too late.

The official Beta forums will be for feedback.

[Stardouser]

The official Beta forums will be for feedback.

No...I'm talking about closed beta, which not everyone gets into. Those who are not in it, won't find out about things and thus won't be able to join the crusade against anything.

[Notser]

It's rather a beta date impression and not about NDA, but you guys seems to work the sh... out of yourselves. TRay has 16+ hours workdays, Purrfectstorm tweets almost at EU scheduele etc... Get some sleep before you burn out! :)

Or beta is rather close and you have a close deadline... hm...

E3 is their deadline, I'm hoping they either get all of SOE playing the game so the press get something spectacular to see or have the beta started so they have massive battles for press to experience. In my opinion, there isn't enough interest in Planetside 2 from the regular press outlets. MAX + Fighters + MBTs all with 100% art and effects would be awesome to see at E3. Also hoping for a sneak peak at some trailer.

[JPalmer]

The problem with NDA is that if they start off with evil things like (insert evil casualization feature here), we won't have a chance to organize a campaign against it until it's too late.


I am sure any feature you hate will actually be liked by more than a majority of Planetside 2 players.

So good luck on campaigning.

[Stardouser]

I am sure any feature you hate will actually be liked by more than a majority of Planetside 2 players.

So good luck on campaigning.

Except there won't be any proof, there will be lots of forumers against something and not many in favor, but the assumption will be that the voiceless masses like it anyway.

And so I challenge SOE to take advantage of the power of the Station Launcher and do polls on all the important topics before allowing players to log in. This way the issues can be settled once and for all. Granted, it will be a small sample initially but as more people come in it gets bigger.

Everquest has done it, so I know it can be done.

[JPalmer]

It works both ways. I have been around enough games to see a few hundred people complain about something. The devs change it and a flood of people stop playing or go complain themselves.

[EVILPIG]

No...I'm talking about closed beta, which not everyone gets into. Those who are not in it, won't find out about things and thus won't be able to join the crusade against anything.

Right. That is what the Beta testers are for.

[RawketLawnchair]

People who says games can't flop entirely should take a look at what happened to Brink.

[Bluecewe]

Firefall lifted its NDA quite recently. Although it has allowed those interested in the game to basically have pure gameplay footage at their fingertips, I don't personally believe that the game has seen a huge improvement in public exposure as a result.

Thus, I feel it may be better to maintain the NDA in the very early public testing stages, such as the closed beta, and then take away the NDA once we get closer to an open beta.