Char progression: Beta > Live

[Kaotc]

Will any advancements made by beta testers, be carried over to the game, or will there be a massacre and everyone starts from square one at launch?

obviously the latter is the fairest option to the suspected vast majority of people not selected/eligible for beta testing. however, it _could_ be construed as a reward for people who did beta test, if they were to get to keep their progression.


Thoughts?

[DaddyTickles]

Has there ever been a Beta which has carried over caracter stats to Live?

Genuine question. I've been in several betas and they were all scrubbed clean when Live launched.

[Coreldan]

Originally Posted by DaddyTickles

Has there ever been a Beta which has carried over caracter stats to Live?

Genuine question. I've been in several betas and they were all scrubbed clean when Live launched.

APB had a short period of closed beta before it went to open beta where progress was saved, partially cos they started testing/using the cash shop during CB already, so it wouldve been quite bad to remove said items.

But as for the topic itself, I wouldnt expect to have anything carry over to live.

[Graywolves]

I wouldn't mind starting from scratch after beta. Things could be adjusted during/after beta if we got things too fast or too late.

Ultimatley I don't mind because it's an FPS. I doubt we'd feel a big sense of loss.

[Scrima]

I hope it's wiped and we are left with just a small cosmetic/badge as a thank you.

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by DaddyTickles

Has there ever been a Beta which has carried over caracter stats to Live?

Tribes: Ascend is doing it, you can already buy things from the cash shop so I guess it would cause quite an uproar if all that was wiped at the end of beta. Though I suppose the alternative would be to refund everything that was bought so you have it available again at release.

Carrying over is a big mistake in general because things related to progression will undoubtedly change during the beta. It's happened in Tribes already, things suddenly became much more 'expensive' to unlock which gives an obvious advantage to the people who unlocked things before the change.

[XPquant]

I have never seen progression carry over from beta's to gold.

[ThGlump]

Usually many bugs and balance changes will in beta, making it impossible or really unfair to bring your beta chars to live. Maybe last month of beta will be saved for live (since its f2p anyway), but before that expect many wipes during beta.

[Kaotc]

im not sure either, hence asking the question, its not fair to people that didnt get to beta test, but could be a reward for those that helped out with beta? i dunno.

i guess i also depends how they launch the game, being F2P will the basically just patch the game from beta to live, or will they stop the beta, then go for a proper launch.

[lolroflroflcake]

Originally Posted by Kaotc

Will any advancements made by beta testers, be carried over to the game, or will there be a massacre and everyone starts from square one at launch?

obviously the latter is the fairest option to the suspected vast majority of people not selected/eligible for beta testing. however, it _could_ be construed as a reward for people who did beta test, if they were to get to keep their progression.


Thoughts?

I don't think the few extra toys the beta testers unlock over the few months of beta testing would hurt new players that much in a game where your ability to kill is based primarily off player skills and teamwork and not character progression. So why not, let the beta testers keep their character advancements.

[Kaotc]

the F2P model for me, does grey the lines of the launch, in that people wont have to buy it like they did for Battlefield, or any other game that ive played recently that has had an open/closed beta.

they could very easily go for a "soft" launch, where they just patch the game during maintenence, and boom, game is live. (i think this is what Tribes:Ascend will do, for example)

Traditionally with P2P games, the beta is stopped a short while before the actual launch of the game.

[TheRagingGerbil]

If the game is completely balanced and a day one newbie is just as effective at killing as a day 100 vet-beta tester, than it really shouldn't matter. But just to make everyone feel like they are on the level, everyone should start from scratch once beta is complete.

[Rbstr]

No.

I'd be pretty surprised if beta didn't have accelerated character progression in order to facilitate testing. Super unfair. How would they deal with cash store stuff? Are they going to make beta players pay out of pocket for it? Doesn't seem likely.
Now I could envision a reward of some scale for beta involvement. Special cosmetic stuff, maybe small stuff that's available to everyone anyway like a coupon for a free store item.

[Azren]

It will pretty much be an open beta, so there is no worry about latecommers.

That said however, I am very worried about possible exploits that kickstart characters, something that should not be present in live.

[Chaff]

Anyone who was in beta - should have a tail on their toon when PS2 officially launches open to the public.

Maybe a Beta player should have a choice of what to carry over into the real game;
a) tail
b) clown shoes
c) Hello Kitty shoulder patch
d) none of the above
e) all of the above

I'll take "c".
"e" is very tempting though.......


No xp or char dev should carry over.