open beta

[Gr1mSag3]

so there may be a thread about this already, if so i apologize but i don't have time to wade through over 100 pages of threads. will there be an open beta for those of us who don't have backer beta's to try it before release? Thanks...can you tell i'm excited for this game

[Hiro Protagonist II]

Doubt it. Game will be released in a couple of months anyway.

[mtroman85]

I very much doubt there will be an open beta as doing so would lessen the backer beta, at least in the eyes of some. 

[Osvir]

I have suggested this before but:

Phase One: Backer Beta
- Obsidian Entertainment releases the Backer Beta as promised from the Kickstarter, away from the public eye (avoiding Early Access) for the most passionate backers to help Obsidian with the Pillars of Eternity product.

(Suggestion) Phase Two: Early Access Beta
- At release, Winter 2014, Obsidian Entertainment releases a clean, polished Early Access title, which is pretty much feature complete... but instead of calling an Early Access... perhaps one could call it a "Expansive Access"? I.E. during the time Pillars of Eternity is in this "Expansive Access", they'd focus the money/revenue to Update, Patch, and to Expand on Pillars of Eternity in sequels or whatnot.

This means you'd get a full game, or as much as Obsidian has managed to put into the game up til the deadline, and they'd also get fuel to finalize and/or to strengthen the IP for the future as well.

Phase Three: Release
- Because how Steam functions, with the Early Access and whatnot, they like to "Re-release" and bump whatever is being released to the top. Anything coming out of an Early Access program that is. In essence, if Pillars of Eternity lands on Early Access December 2014 and stays there til... January-February 2015, they'd release Pillars of Eternity "twice".

Another good thing with Early Access is that everytime there is a "major" update for a title, they also get bumped to front page on Steam. "Just Updated!" and "Just Released!". This gives much more CPM (clicks per mille) and the product gains much more attention over time.

This is just marketing suggestions~ doesn't have much to do with the actual game.

[Lychnidos]

Open betas are mostly used by online multiplayer games to really test infrastructure and networking code. I don't see any benefit they can bring to a single player game, contrary they'll most likely hurt sales.

[Gr1mSag3]

ya that's what i was afraid of...i just don't have the extra cash to buy into the backer beta...now come January i might but...that's heavily dependent on whether i get my disability approved or not ah well at least i got the game on the cheap right lol but its just as important that i actually helped to make this game possible..even if its on an EXTREMELY minor scale lol

[archangel979]

I very much doubt there will be an open beta as doing so would lessen the backer beta, at least in the eyes of some. 

Well both WL2 and Grim Dawn let all their backer have access to beta after a while. On the other hand both game went Steam Early Access route so it might be different for them.