Beta testing

[Alex24]

that's why i wrote or

[Oliver]

FHI made Betas for their other games too, so if it is their decision I speculate on a (very) closed beta. But I've no clue if it is FHIs or Eugens decision.

[Alex24]

for cxl2011 there was a very very small closed beta

[Oliver]

Yes, we were about 20 people. That was a bit too small IMO.

[Space]

I think that a closed beta with quite alot of testers is better. Having a small number of testers is not good for an RTS beta, because you need quite a few people to work out balance and exploits.

Open beta is great for finding balance, but having 1 million testers for RUSE, probably hurt sales as much as they helped them. Alot of people will have downloaded it, and if they didnt get in to the game within the first couple of hours, they would have un-installed the game and probably also made a decision not to buy it. People do not value things that are for free - they will give up on a game much more quickly. If someone buys a game, they are much more likely to persevere because they have invested money - and this extra playtime means that more players get hooked.

[[srbCG]CyberGeneral]

maybe the devs will have more job to do with beta now, but, for sure, they will have less problems with the game after they release it. also, there is no player who wouldn't support beta demo of this game.

[Selkares]

Focus seems to like closed betas and Eugen did a closed beta for RUSE (before the open beta and then free weekend).

So they'll probably make a closed beta.

And besides, feedback isn't necessarily bigger in open than closed betas.
A majority of players in open betas just play it like a demo and don't participate in balancing issues or bug problems.

I think the best for the game is:
>> A closed beta for the community (meaning the guys who really care about the quality of the game).
>> And a nice demo before release so that everyone else can try the game.

[GeneralGonzo]

I´m juts curious about the release date announced for late autumn and no beta announced so far.....
For a RTS game balance is crucial.

Hope they know what they are doing - unless they delay the release date. As it was with RUSE....

[Selkares]

I guess they know what they are doing.

I mean, why else would they have moved the release date from Q1 2012 to November 2011??

They'll probably announce the beta in the comming weeks.

If the game really comes out in November, a beta of 2-3 weeks starting end August or early September would still give them 2 months to balance and fix the game.

[Space]

I guess they know what they are doing.

I mean, why else would they have moved the release date from Q1 2012 to November 2011??

They'll probably announce the beta in the comming weeks.

If the game really comes out in November, a beta of 2-3 weeks starting end August or early September would still give them 2 months to balance and fix the game.

Due to the fact that they only released a short video with no gameplay at E3, and also that it looked like the maps in that video weren't complete, I presumed they still had a long way to go. But in the RTSguru interview, the author says that the game is already in a release-able state If that is really the case, then I cant understand why they would not promote it better at E3?

Most games go gold around 4-6 weeks before release, so that leaves very little time for beta testing if they really think they can make a November release date. An August/September beta would be fine for tweaking unit stats, but it would not give time to fix any more serious bugs that may be found.