Open Beta - Want or Not?

[NewSith]

Basically from what I can tell from certain experiences prolonged open beta tests for otherwise free to play games tend to ruin the overall game population. People see a game, still rather raw and tend to leave it due to some bugs remaining for long time, without realising that they're not playing a final build. That doesn't mean they're wrong, it's just that it totally depends on how long the OBT is going to last.

Especially considering there's rather small server cap in the game, I don't find the OBT necessary because we WILL get the amount of people needed to fill one server even in the closed beta.

EDIT: Something is definitely wrong with my english these days. Sorry for hard-to-read.

[Shogun]

the closed beta has to be long!
open beta should only be for optimization and stresstesting the finished game. at least for a free to play game i think most of the bugs have to be hunted down in closed beta.

[KiddParK]

Originally Posted by Shogun

the closed beta has to be long!
open beta should only be for optimization and stresstesting the finished game. at least for a free to play game i think most of the bugs have to be hunted down in closed beta.

this.

[Mechzz]

Originally Posted by Shogun

the closed beta has to be long!
open beta should only be for optimization and stresstesting the finished game. at least for a free to play game i think most of the bugs have to be hunted down in closed beta.

seconded

[Mastachief]

Originally Posted by Shogun

the closed beta has to be long!
open beta should only be for optimization and stresstesting the finished game. at least for a free to play game i think most of the bugs have to be hunted down in closed beta.

This

[Razicator]

I find it kinda weird how games nowadays don't have demos but betas essentially doing the same thing. Or maybe it's just the games I usually look at.

[Mr DeCastellac]

Originally Posted by Razicator

I find it kinda weird how games nowadays don't have demos but betas essentially doing the same thing. Or maybe it's just the games I usually look at.

I totally agree. I think it was in a Tribes: Ascend video I was watching where someone mentioned that most people, including a lot of game developers, see open beta as some early marketing demo. It used to be, and should still be for testing and improvement.

[goneglockin]

Originally Posted by Mr DeCastellac

I totally agree. I think it was in a Tribes: Ascend video I was watching where someone mentioned that most people, including a lot of game developers, see open beta as some early marketing demo. It used to be, and should still be for testing and improvement.

That's because sometimes it is a marketing demo hiding behind the "beta" excuse. A perfect example of this is BF3. They had a short "open beta" about 3 weeks or less to the games actual release date.

This is a game being released on physical media all over the world. 3 weeks from launch, the media is manufactured, warehoused, shipped to distribution centers, etc. The product is finished and what you see is what you get at launch. Now they may patch some things, but the game is not is going to look or feel much different... which nobody wanted to hear because "beta."

I called it what it was, a demo- and got 2 pages of folks ignoring any criticism of the game because "beta." In all reality though, the game was finished enough to have judgement passed on it and no amount of minor tweaks would justify a purchase by me.

[Sifer2]

Open Beta these days is usually more of a big demo event for subscription games. As such it isn't really necessary for Planetside 2. But they might want to do a stress test weekend before launch. Like maybe a few weeks before official release hype it up that you can play it early that weekend so we can make sure the servers are ready.

[Karriz]

It's difficult to draw the line between open beta and release in F2P games, since they're in contimuous development all the time.

PS2 should go open when it's polished enough so people don't get the wrong picture of it. Transition from open beta to release will probably happen seamlessly.

[Stardouser]

Open beta in many ways IS release. The question I have is, will open beta have a functioning cash shop, and if it does, how will they address the possibility that something you pay for might change before true release?

[KTNApollo]

OBT will be necessary to stress the servers/netcode. Shouldn't be as long as CBT though.

[NewSith]

Originally Posted by KTNApollo

OBT will be necessary to stress the servers/netcode. Shouldn't be as long as CBT though.

I disagree, the server caps for a persistent world is something different from servers with instances. In planetside 2 one full server is more than enough, imo. And, as I said if all PS vets are invited to CBT, than the playercount of ~6000 will be covered straight away...

[bullet]

At what point does an open beta achieve its final status? That really depends on how the devs view their product, or until marketing says they need some $$$$. Patch by patch the game gets better until a point where they feel its final. There shouldn't be any decisions premade on how long a beta test should be. They just need to polish their product and get it to the public in a timely manner, unlike Minecraft's 5 year beta.

[phazon]

T:A did the beta really well, ran alpha until it was polished then made it somewhat exclusive but if you supported the game early on they let you in, and then made it progressively easier to get in (if you really wanted to get in you could), with the massive scale of ps2 i think this is an appropriate approach once a month goes into cbt