The Dilemma of Beta Access

[Monte Carlo]

I made an, if not massive, sizeable pledge and got Beta access.

 

Now I realise that I don't want to spoil myself.

 

How much of the game do we think we will playable without destroying the sense of awe, wonder and delight at cracking open the real thing?

 

You see, I could just play around with chargen, but isn't that like an alcoholic taking the cap off a beer 'just for a sniff?'

[Fluffle]

Ugh I've got the same problem.

 

I wanted to use Project Eternity to watch myself closely as to how I play such a game without metagame knowledge.

 

I wanted the experience of a pure non-spoiled  first-time playthrough.

 

And then I remembered I got beta access. Yeah :/

 

Don't know what to do. Not joining the beta?

[Gfted1]

I was worried about that while I was in the D3 beta but they kept it short (only to the first boss, iirc) and it didn't affect my enjoyment of the game at all.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

You have both my sympathy and my envy. Perhaps they will shove you in a random dungeon with a AH party and let you hack your way through without spoiling anything.

[Malcador]

Shouldn't be a problem, it'll be akin to replaying the game in terms of exposure and you'll be, ideally, helping to give feedback to make the released product better as you experience bugs, give feedback, etc.

[alanschu]

 

 

How much of the game do we think we will playable without destroying the sense of awe, wonder and delight at cracking open the real thing?

 

Depends on what they're doing with the beta.

 

It could be anywhere from specialized parts of the game to focus particular features, to the full game being available in a not yet finished state.

 

 

My expectation would be closer to the latter, however.

[mcmanusaur]

I guess donating your beta access to underprivileged children in third-world countries is the only true win-win solution here.

[forgottenlor]

Hmm. Why did you get Beta access again? Just personally, even if I paid for Beta access, I'd never use it. I just bought Might nad Magic X early access, and won't make use of it, because I want to play a whole finished game and not a work in progress. However, there are plenty of people who feel otherwise. So the question is what do you feel comfortable with? Do you like playing demos? (again something I really don't like) What for you is a spoiler? I think its a personal issue. Like what colour do you make your character's clothing, or what voice do you pick for them, or what difficulty level you play.

[Ieo]

Consider that there were probably a large number of "$25 beta" add-on pledges, so an enforced NDA is probably out the window. This seems more like an open beta type of deal--stability and mechanics bugs only. Probably mostly stability since most of the backers with beta access wouldn't know the first thing about properly testing and reporting bugs.

 

I don't know if Obsidian's plans have changed concerning the beta or if they've decided on more specifics, but this was said back in 2012:

 

It's too early for specifics on the beta test since it's a long ways off right now. I can tell you right now that:

1. You will be able to play the game (in an unfinished state) before it's released and before anyone not in the beta.
2. It won't be the entire game to avoid story spoilers being leaked. (subject to change, but that's the current plan)

Beta's are typically the time when we are finalizing the project, doing game balancing, polishing, play testing, and fixing a ton of bugs. We will be fixing and adjusting aspects of the game during this time as well, but all of the content should be in the game at this point. It should be very similar to other games' beta tests, but probably more personal since you will have direct access to the developer team.

I hope this answers your questions.

 

Thing is, I think that was said BEFORE the $25 add-on beta blitz, but I could be wrong. But I would expect now with all the additional beta keys going out, they'd be leery of even a "majority but incomplete" beta. I mean, think of the NDA nightmare.  Technical feasibility aside, there are a number of ways Obsidian could run the beta without too much spoilers. Like side quests only, or artificial side quests, a demo version of the first "chapter," a side boss fight, whatever.

 

I pledged at a level with automatic beta access as well and originally intended to just discard that part of the "benefits," but I'll participate anyway because, hey, I was actually good at bug testing and reporting the one time I did it for work.   And I trust Obsidian wouldn't spoil me in the major bits.

[IndiraLightfoot]

I feel you, Monte!

 

And like forgottenlore wrote, I bought the M&M X early access, had a few hours of beta-testing done, reported the bugs, but I'll leave it at that (not much spoilers, anyways). I suspect PE will be the same.

 

I really do hope for bet access for character creation, though. I loved when DAO's chargen got released well in advance. In this way, Obsidian can iron a lot of system bugs in those systems too.

 

In short, I will prolly load it up, run a round a bit, and then stop.

[LadyCrimson]

I donated a sizable (but not super extravagant) amount because I wanted to support the game, not get into the beta. Having access to early bits or versions of the game is a bonus. And I'm definitely not good "tester" material, for various reasons ... so I'll be one of the ones who tries it out for an hour or so then shelve it until there's a much-different/improved version, if any, repeat. I don't plan on playing any beta to completion or for hours on end to pick it apart. To me it'd be only to get a general feel for how the game is going to play, what the UI feels like in action, etc.

[Lephys]

Personally, I would LOVE to beta-test the game. I think as long as the testable scenarios are "encrypted," so to speak (replaced with non-final-product specifics), all will be well.

Edited August 26, 2013 by Lephys

[Hormalakh]

Hey if you got a beta-access and want to not use it, I'll always take it off your hands.

[Stun]

Now I realise that I don't want to spoil myself.

That'll change.

 

Right now this seems like a tough decision, but come next spring/summer, the anticipation will reach critical mass, and you'll be ready to knock down walls to get your hands on the beta and play it.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Stun

[Lephys]

You'd... beta believe it.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Lephys

[LadyCrimson]

You'd... beta believe it.

*groans....again*

Your Order title is appropriate.

[ManifestedISO]

My buddy likes to consume media, watching movies and playing games one to the next. I like the special events, the build-up to launch, the physical media, the act of acquiring. I think beta access would be a bit too much premature love and angst. Walking Dead, Season 3 tomorrow, BTW.   

[Lephys]

*groans....again*

Your Order title is appropriate.

The joke iron seems to be tainted. It's probably those cursed Amnish. u_u

[Felonious]

I am truly envious, Beta access would be marvelous!

[Chaos Theory]

I won't be playing early beta, however when I start reading that folks are finding that it's stable, and that most of the kinks have been worked out toward the middle or end of the cycle, I'll jump in.

 

But I have zero interest in playtesting or bugsquashing.  I'll probably play the section where my unique item shows up though, just to make sure it's the ass kicker I envision it to be!  I guess, whatever it is I plan on envision-ing when the time comes.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Chaos Theory

[Archmage Silver]

I've got beta access as well. I don't want to spoil myself too much though, so I'll restrict myself to the early areas and character testing (classes, races, abilities).

[Lephys]

I won't be playing early beta, however when I start reading that folks are finding that it's stable, and that most of the kinks have been worked out toward the middle or end of the cycle, I'll jump in.

I could be wrong, but I don't think we'll be testing anything resembling a complete game. Based on what's been said about it, I would bet they'll be presenting little scenarios to test the mechanics and whatnot. Almost like different levels in the Aperture Laboratories of Portal, . So, I'm just not sure there'll really be a kinks-worked-out, "stable" build of something as opposed to anything else. If the test scenarios aren't stable, I don't know that we'll be playing them. And, any way of crashing the game (any evidence of instability) will be what they'll want us to find, methinks, amongst lesser glitches and discrepancies in the mechanics and systems.

[Chaos Theory]

 

I won't be playing early beta, however when I start reading that folks are finding that it's stable, and that most of the kinks have been worked out toward the middle or end of the cycle, I'll jump in.

I could be wrong, but I don't think we'll be testing anything resembling a complete game. Based on what's been said about it, I would bet they'll be presenting little scenarios to test the mechanics and whatnot. Almost like different levels in the Aperture Laboratories of Portal, . So, I'm just not sure there'll really be a kinks-worked-out, "stable" build of something as opposed to anything else. If the test scenarios aren't stable, I don't know that we'll be playing them. And, any way of crashing the game (any evidence of instability) will be what they'll want us to find, methinks, amongst lesser glitches and discrepancies in the mechanics and systems.

 

Ahh...  I guess I'll be sitting it out then.

[Lephys]

Ahh...  I guess I'll be sitting it out then.

*shrug*. As I said... I could be wrong. I just know they've stressed a few times that they REALLY don't want to spoil the story with any kind of testing-type access. So, at the very most, I think we'll be playing actual snippets of the game with the story stuff cut out (arbitrary characters and builds, etc., as opposed to "this is where you'll be and what level you'll be and the stuff you'll actually have access to at this point in the game"). It might still be something you'd enjoy. Who knows.