I would pay to alpha test. You?

[Tatwi]

Honestly, it would be more entertaining to play-test one PS2 continent than it would to continue to play other games. I'd pay the $14.99/month of a normal subscription to be part of the process. It would fun to see how things change and to have some laughs over bugs and what not.

I am tired of waiting for this game. Tired enough to pay to play it in an incomplete state.

*sigh*...... The poll is not supposed to be multiple choice (I did not check the box that said to allow multiple choices). May as well delete the whole damned thing. What a waste of time...

[Pollo Jack]

You guys are nuts.

[basti]

my Planetside sub is still running... ;)

[Biohazard]

No not really, in alpha there is not a whole lot of testing going on, it's all about getting the art assets in game. Beta is where the game mechanics are refined. Besides, why would I pay want to for alpha when beta is coming within 1-12 months?

[Nobel]

I would pay anything under 500$

[Juturna]

god yes please

[Shogun]

earlier this year, when i was unimployed, i would have loved to pay for getting access to alpha ;)

but now my new job swallows a lot of time, so i don´t have to think about ps2 all day anymore. but waiting still sucks, and beta has to start soon. the discussions are changing lately, and it shows that we all want to set foot on auraxis. we need to feel it to get back to constructive discussions. there is too much assumption and too many things we just can´t imagine right. and the discussions about this unknown stuff feels so obsolete. i want to know what i am talking about.

i just hope the beta delay has at least something to do with vehicle boarding or another big surprise ;)
:wantbeta:

[Yetiee]

I bought a PCGamer magazine, does that count?

[Rbstr]

Why would I pay to do someone else's work for them?
Especially for a game that is going to be free to play.

[Snipefrag]

my Planetside sub is still running... ;)

this.

[Tricky]

Have you ever played a game in alpha or even early beta? It's not all fun and games, it's work. You spend just as much time writing bug reports as you do playing the game and when you are playing you're usually trying to replicate a bug you've stumbled across.

[Shogun]

Have you ever played a game in alpha or even early beta? It's not all fun and games, it's work. You spend just as much time writing bug reports as you do playing the game and when you are playing you're usually trying to replicate a bug you've stumbled across.

yep, but this can be a lot of fun, too.

it´s at least more fun than waiting and just looking at screenshots ;)

[Aurmanite]

Alpha isn't for playing.

[SniperSteve]

I bought station cash, and PS2 is the only game I will even considering using it on. (Since I don't play other SOE games that use Station Cash.) So that is kinda like paying for Alpha/Beta in a way. :D

[QuantumMechanic]

I would pay for early access just so I can see how my machine runs PS2 in it's current state.

Based off of that, I will start preparing to either upgrade my existing machine or buy a new one entirely. Solely because of PS2. The only other time I've done this before was in anticipation of EQ2.

[Coreldan]

Same here. My PS sub is also running. I like to support SOE, and if for the same money I could actually get to help test and an overall sneak peek to PS2, hell yes! Also the hardware part is a good point. Planetside 2 is the only game currently announced I would even consider upgrading for and I will if it's necessary. That said, optimization in alpha is often so lacking that it may not be a good indicator.

[SuperMorto]

I would pay anything under 500$

Same.

god yes please

Same.

[Graywolves]

I don't have any money. But I would do whatever it took to get into Alpha.

[The Janitor]

Been testing games all I can for years. Alphas, betas, love 'em all. Close as I can get to being a dev, long hours and crazy deadlines included. :D

[RadarX]

You guys will certainly want to play, but probably more in Beta when they've topped the awesome with a layer of polish. As much as I hate the word because it's super vague... Soon.

[Sabrak]

I wouldn't pay to play at alpha stage, that's crazy.

Alpha stage is something really specific to developpers, they need it for the most "basic" tests and for reporting.
Players have nothing to do in there, we'd just get in the way.

Now, I would pay to get in beta.
Hell, I would actually pay 30€/month for the game if I had to, and not even feel bad about it for a millisecond (as long as the game delivers, of course).

[SKYeXile]

my Planetside sub is still running... ;)

*sighs* i was just thinking yea who would pay monthly to be in beta...oh wait...im paying monthly for a chance to be in beta, *kicks self*

[Minor]

Voted yes to all 3, mainly cus the roommate paid his share of the rent.

Id be willing to play alpha even if it was full release and we had to suffer through a full year of bugs and 12 yr old QQing all over the forums.

[Minor]

*sighs* i was just thinking yea who would pay monthly to be in beta...oh wait...im paying monthly for a chance to be in beta, *kicks self*

You dont have to pay monthly for beta. subs and unsubs get = chances of being picked first.

Also it's not a huge deal if you don't get picked. Release is f2p and will be a winner game for the next 5 years to come.

[BigBossMonkey]

You guys will certainly want to play, but probably more in Beta when they've topped the awesome with a layer of polish. As much as I hate the word because it's super vague... Soon.

But my birthday was yesterday! I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER!!!!!:cry:

[iSpectre]

Alpha? - no (even considering how great the alpha build footage looked)
Beta? - I'd certainly chip in with an early access beta program , considering I'm already tempted to check out the Store options upon the games release.

To be fair though if I were to pay to get into beta, it'd skew my interpretation of the beta system, (yay playing the game early vs ok, what doesn't work?)
I'd love to figure out how well my machine holds up early as well, but if its a case of save up - upgrade my system - PS2 is released - HELL YEAH!
vs - bah! early access but my PC spews out so much smoke I can't even see my monitor.. tad silly.

[Stew]

i already pay 13 $ for PC gamer magazine to get the beta acess and i never bough magazine normally and i also have bough station cash for about 75 $ and i dont play other SOE games so it will be for planetside 2 in game artefact thats i would like to have !

Making people pay to play a alpha is ridicoulous especially if you planned to be a Free to play game !

And also Beta testing is a Gift for companys normally they have to pay QA people to get this job done so yeah dedictated gamers already gave free beta testing services to company so paying for it become a little ridicoulous

[SKYeXile]

You dont have to pay monthly for beta. subs and unsubs get = chances of being picked first.

Also it's not a huge deal if you don't get picked. Release is f2p and will be a winner game for the next 5 years to come.

SOE all access have always been the first to get into betas.

See what im doing here SOE? :O

[basti]

You guys will certainly want to play, but probably more in Beta when they've topped the awesome with a layer of polish. As much as I hate the word because it's super vague... Soon.

You hate "soon" that much that you replaced it with "in the near future" ? :D

[QuantumMechanic]

I'm not expecting any news on beta until at least E3, which is in 5 or so weeks I believe. Back at GDC Higby mentioned something along the lines of "within a few months" and "keep your eyes on E3" when answering some questions about beta.

Well, that's what I've got my hopes pinned on anyway.

[razor851]

The little money I make goes straight towards drugs and alcohol.

[SurgeonX]

Would I pay to test Alpha builds?
Nope.

Would I do it for free?
Yep.

I'd love to be part of the process too.
We're trying to push User Centred Design as much as possible where I work, and I don't see why that wouldn't work for games development too.

Do some remote testing with screen sharing, using iterative focussed tests with small numbers of participants (around 5), and you'll find 85% of usability issues.
That'd be great for testing the UI and gameplay dynamics.
Why wait until beta to fix those sorts of things?

[Lorgarn]

Ok, I'll play. Since this would never happen anyways. :)

I'd like to say that I wouldn't pay for Alpha access, but came the opportunity I would most likely sieze it. Not saying I'm particularly proud of it, it's just my honest opinion of what I would do in that situation.

[SniperSteve]

Soon. (TM)

[cryosin]

I wouldn't pay for it, since the game is going to be free to play.

But I would probably buy some stuff with station cash if I knew it would transfer over.

I think as beta nears, opening up Alpha to some of the early people who signed up would be nice. I don't know if I would even fall into that category(i signed up a few days after it was posted), but letting a few hardcore fans in would be nice.

Most of us would accept the game in alpha state and still enjoy it. Would make us happy while also giving feedback to the dev's earlier.

Just my 2 cents though.

[Brusi]

I have also been religiously dishing out to SOE for my sub, simply to increase my chance of getting into beta asap. I'm going to have a fit if i don't get in with the first bunch. Just like that WoW kid who sticks the remote control up his ass when his mom cancels his sub!

If you want to call me an entitled loser for feeling like this, then hey... fuck you, unless you can get me into PS2 beta i don't care what you think!

I hate that they have to stay vague about who will get into beta and when, but making solid agreements/promises to people around games that are months and months away from beta, let alone completion could very easily go badly. Especially if money gets involved.

P.S. i ticked all options except for "No".

[duomaxwl]

I would never pay for alpha testing, and I probably wouldn't pay for beta testing either. Smed said (teehee) that PS1 players would get in, so I'll trust him on that. Technically I did pay for beta testing by getting the magazine, but that was more for this than for the code:
http://i.imgur.com/YH51z.jpg?1

[Neurotoxin]

It hurts the team's productivity to stop and design a launchable and playable Alpha build. I don't want it, I know it would murder productivity. Closed beta will be here soon enough.

If you can't get enough PS2, make a fan video, make an outfit website, make some original art sketches, overanalyze the geological diversity and plant diversity based on images we've seen, brew an empire-specific beer, write a song... do something creative.

Keep in mind that closed beta doesn't mean doors are open, just that a small select group can begin playing the game under a (presumably) strict NDA.

[Mechzz]

We're trying to push User Centred Design as much as possible where I work, and I don't see why that wouldn't work for games development too.

Do some remote testing with screen sharing, using iterative focussed tests with small numbers of participants (around 5), and you'll find 85% of usability issues.
That'd be great for testing the UI and gameplay dynamics.
Why wait until beta to fix those sorts of things?

I wouldn't pay as the game will be free and it's a valuable service for SOE.

However, I agree with SurgeonX - finding a way to let small groups of end users in to "play" and test things would move bug finding forward faster than a team of devs can do it. Not because Devs are some way lacking, just that end users have a different focus and would try/look at stuff that doesn't occur to Devs.

Maybe those of you lucky enough to live near San Diego could get special invites to the office?

On the other hand, I guess this is what the QA testers do, so if we greedy fans fulfill that role then we're cutting off the future supply of new Higby's?

[Tcakes]

basically what Sabrak was saying. I know we all want to get in and see/play the game, but let the Devs dev. Im just hoping when tons of folks get into the beta they will realize its a beta and not early release. Cant tell you how annoying it is to see people piss and moan in a beta about things being "broken".

[Squiffy]

I'd pay to gain access now. In fact, for the last 18 months I've done just that with "Natural Selection 2". I paid £27 to finance the team behind this game.

It's been an interesting experience. Build 156 was the first beta release and it was god awful until we got to B184, where things started to become playable. We're just about to get B207. The feeling everyone has is that we're part of the game. The forums buzz with ideas and the devs are very proactive with ideas/information. For every tweet by PS, I'm getting about 20 from Unknown Worlds (devs of NS2). There is a huge following of videos on-line that get released nigh on daily due to the efforts of one fan, who recently became employed by them!

I actively check the forums every day, I wait for the next build update, play it, report bugs/issues and discuss.

I think the difference is that SOE are a massive corporation, they don't need us to be that involved. UWE is 7 guys who have harnessed fans to bug search for them.

[headcrab13]

I'm just generally impressed that the alpha version is polished enough to warrant more than half of the community being willing to pay for early access. All signs are pointing to PS2 being a true winner, and really reshaping what gamers thought an MMO could be.

[Graywolves]

unless you can get me into PS2 beta i don't care what you think!


Getting into PS2 Beta is all that matters.