View Full Version : What makes a good Beta tester?
Title says it all.
Discuss, post links to 'guides' whatever.
anyone who speaks/is german I assume :lol:
/runs
For starters, someone who doesn't tell their mates all about it 5 minutes after signing the NDA and logging in.
For starters, someone who doesn't tell their mates all about it 5 minutes after signing the NDA and logging in.
:lol:
Well, the NON DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT, may give some people a clue, lets just hope that everyone reads it PROPERLY lol.
If any one has checklists, spam them up.
People who can think of all sorts of ways to exploit . .lol. And will report their findings. People who try to do things several different ways to see if it's possible when it should be possible or impossible when it should be impossible. Someone who thinks I just have to get anything I find busted reported so when it goes retail hopefully it's all fixed and . . .
THEN . . .
we can have fun. ;)
EDIT: Man they are giving away beta accounts in contests and just doing random stuff to get people in it. pfft I doubt it's gonna be kept secret and there will be leaks o plenty from time to time.
someone who will acually activly try to make it a better game, and not use it as a free preview.
-Crono
Dirk_Gently
18-07-04, 21:18
Bags of patience and hours of time to do lots of really boring stuff.
Apart from the NDA issue I think the ability to put yourself in a newbie's situation is really handy when beta testing.
Of course, all contents should be tested... but if you have played a very long time it's quite easy to fall back on old routines. I.e you click things always in the same order.. you take only a certain route to a place every time and so on.
The game must be tested from both aspects. The hardcore NC gamer and the poor little newbie :)
Also, regarding the NDA issue... you would think that it's just a small thing. But for you who have beta tested before, you know how many infringements there are. Some are really elaborate even o_O
People will do just about everything to get a little information out.
Found this on another board.
You needn't be a God, nor a demon. Just provide relevant information regarding potential problems, whether they're cosmetic, mechanical, community, etc in a clean and respectable manner. If you do run into a problem, it's always good to try to recreate the issue, to see if it was a random occurence, or a general flaw.
Communication with other testers is generally a positive thing to, as you can pool your ideas and submit suggestions that many people feel should be taken seriously.
A good tester is somebody that is a manner "stupid" and tries bull shit stuff just because they are testers. Not people who are like "oh hell i can test my set up and find where to new shit is before anybody else.
I've tested before and yeah. I just wonder if KK will take legal action if there is (and most likely will with what seems to be the average age) a breach of the nda.
Bred
..i..DemonX
18-07-04, 22:01
For me a good Beta tester is someone that realy know what he need to do in NC, that include that he know a lil about how to find bugs. As well it would be needed that he report it after he found one (not he keeps quite to use later), that brings me to the last and may very importand point a beta tester need to be very trustworthy!
The beta testers who got through to the 'second round' as it were of Tribes2 beta test were the ones who didn't treat the beta test as a free preview, who submitted lots of bug reports (and I mean lots), with evidence, repeatability (ie the exact steps needed to create the bug/exploit), and were polite and helpful. I'm sure there were other considerations but those were the most obvious.
BDoY beta will be about thoroughly testing every aspect of the game as quickly as possible. It won't be a time for sight-seeing. The beta testers are going to have a lot of responsibility; so much so that I'm not 100% convinced I want to be one.
About 99% convinced anyway :p
Being German would probably be useful just for the practical reason of communicating with KK, although I assume they'll have a reasonable number of native English speakers to shakedown the localisation.
..i..DemonX
18-07-04, 22:20
Iohrge (or however he was spelld) i.e speaks far better english then german :) so i think its not relevant where ur come from as long u can speak english or german.
VirtualReGen
18-07-04, 22:31
Yea , well i think most people just want to get into the BETA to just experience it befor everyone else does, like, WOOHOO IM ONE OF THE FIRST, and dont give a shit about finding the bugs that need to be fixed, now im not saying this to anyone speciall, i just KNOW that there are these people and i would rather have the real people in there that WANT to help, duh i guess, but ofcourse i guess its normal to think that too , yes it would be really awsome to be one of the first ones in DoY, but just to sign up to fuck around in the BETA? i dont think so... What makes a good beta tester? Erm well doing what you are told to do and concentrate on it ... thats a funny question though.. :p
Patience and curiousity.I'd also add common sense, time, and dedication.
The most important things though IME are
- The ablility to use the SEARCH button
- Basic grasp of at least one normal human language
Having been on both sides of software testing there is nothing more useless and time-consuming than ten thousandth re-submisions of a well-known bug. Doubly so if the report is poorly worded so you aren't sure if it is the same bug or not.
TheGreatMilenko
18-07-04, 23:03
Suger and Spice and everthing Nice and a accidental drop of Chemical X
o woops that Power Puff Girls
umm i dont have a answer for ya besides COOKIE MONSTER RAWR
someone who will acually activly try to make it a better game, and not use it as a free preview.
Most important thing.
Maloch Octavia
18-07-04, 23:10
I'd assume sleeping with a Reakktor Staff Member would help in being a good Beta Tester....
*Nudges Oath*
By the way, I've been accepted into the British Army matey, I leave on August the 25th, so massi' piss up is planned for about the 10th or so, guaranteed I'm dragging your ass out again for another night of drinking, pulling fat old birds, and forgetting what we did when we wake up. :D
Oh, and throwing up too, because you can't handle your drink Oathy. :)
TheGreatMilenko
18-07-04, 23:11
Oh, and throwing up too, because you can't handle your drink Oathy. :)
owned :lol:
Maloch Octavia
18-07-04, 23:14
I kid you not. Solid Rock cafe in Glasgow, having a right good piss up, I've just pulled some fat stinking married 40 year old woman with wart on the side of her face (HEY! I was drunk!), and Oathy vanishes. I go looksie, and what do I find after I climb on top of the piss pot in the next cubicle and peer over?
Oathy boy sprawled on the floor, head down bowl, barfing.
Rawrgh!!
:lol: :lol:
That was fun but OT ;) :p
What i have seen on gamecompanies, including ReaKKtor they go after
Rand()
when choosing people. People with actual programming skills that talk the same language as the developers are usually shunned in favour of 15 year olds who get to play games and write bugreports like "Y00 n33d t0 fix0r teh m0b spwn 1n teh v4ll3y zect0rz".
There's a few characteristics that help any beta tester do their job well :)
1) A sharp eye. Your primary job is to find bugs, glitches and other errors. However, it can also be to find subtle things (e.g. the ability to sell an item back to a shop for more than it is bought for, a mob is unusually easy to take out despite a high level).
2) A creativity to be able to think outside the box. A beta tester is there to literally test the beta to its limits, so obviously it should be tested in any way imaginable :D An example is perhaps that to get a great shot in XP, a player has to migrate somewhere (e.g. in a story) - But what if a tester decides to hang around in an area and gets some great XP off the beaten path, so to speak? It could be that the developers didn't intend for that to happen and could do with knowing it to fix it ;)
3) A grasp of their role. A beta tester's primary role is to search for bugs, NOT to treat it as an advance looksee. It cannot be stressed enough that beta testers are valuable for development, as it allows outside eyes to find errors that the developers can't see in their own code. Of course a beta tester is intended to have fun as well, but they're not to forget the main reason why they're in the beta in the first place ;)
4) A conscience. A very important characteristic for a beta tester! While a few people here may joke that they may have no morals (myself included :D), this is especially important in the discovery of an exploit - Does the beta tester in question report the exploit to the developers (so it's fixed and no-one gets an unfair advantage) or does the tester keep the information to themselves to give them an unfair lead when the game goes gold (after all, finders keepers)? There is no one right answer as it's different for everyone, but someone suitable for being a beta tester will know how to act if they come under this situation.
5) The ability to co-operate and work with other beta testers. A beta test isn't a competition to find the most bugs. It's an initiative to find errors before release, and the amount of errors left in a game reflects collectively on ALL the testers, not individuals. This is most evident if you chat together with other testers are your experiences, as chances are that they'll see things that you hadn't and vica versa :)
6) Decent communication skills. Doesn't seem like much, but imagine a developer finding such a bug report:
HI I W3NT 2 D3SERT P3AK 2DAY AND I FOUND TAHT WHEN U JUMP AT A C3RTANE PLAEC U CAN B FIEXD IN DA SKY AND INVISIBLA AND U CAN SHOT OTHERS AS THEY PAS BY GRAAT FOR PKNG AND AFT3RWARDS PMNG THEM SHOUTNG HA HA!1!1 I IS L33T LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hurts the eyes, doesn't it? :p Now imagine a developer reading 50-100 bug reports like it a day ;) That's why it's important to at least have some grammar, punctuation and restraint from using l33t or txt speak ;)
That's all I can think of after doing a few betas in the past - Hopefully, that gives an idea of what a beta tester could do with :) There are a number of other characteristics (some said in this topic :)) but what I've listed are some of the more obvious.
Oh, and before anyone goes "WTF has that got to do with BDoY?", I didn't say anything to do with Neocron for a reason - This post is about when in a beta tester could do with for any beta test, not just BDoY.
If you were hoping for the other thing, god knows what KK wants specifically in a beta tester for BDoY - Your guess is as good as mine! :lol:
Vampire222
19-07-04, 01:13
Being able to actually TEST things, keeping the NDA.. for everyone... Being cooperative with other people, inventivity, etc....
Someone that knows the pro's/con's of all clases and subclasses and has been playing the game for over a year. Also someone that has the patience to try and do all from nooby shit to high end shit.
Intelligence, obversational skills, communication skills.
I do believe however, that the beta testers should be completely neutral and unbiased, ex: People that have never played neocron in their life.
Who cares if they don't like the game, their job is to find bugs, not write glowing reviews.
I gotta say it, I think the most leaks will come from the community members who have been chosen for the beta themselves. Sorry guys, but it's the most obvious source of leaks. How many of us have real-life friends that play? A lot.
Some of the weaker members among us won't be able to resist the temptation.
And about the NDA'S. I hope they are enforced, severly. Beta testers should be obligated to give their real names and addresses, ages, etc.. (maybe they DO have to, I dunno), to be sure that any breaches of contract can be punished.
Leaker's deserve the wrath of KK shoved so far up their asses they'll be tasting it for a week. IMO
Someone that knows the pro's/con's of all clases and subclasses and has been playing the game for over a year. Also someone that has the patience to try and do all from nooby shit to high end shit.
That's actually on in reference to BDOY though. We're sorta talking about a beta tester in general who may or may not have experinced a previous expansion or game of the series or this is the first time the game has come out and is in beta.
Been playing over a year as said you will get caught up in the I've been there done that and fall into your typical routine of leveling without experimenting on all aespects. You might unconsciously not go somewhere because you thinkt here isn't any leveling possiblity there. Or run by things you've seen time and time again and not think to check it.
no social life (gotta spend ur time testing stuff)
some kind of compuslive disorder (where you gotta do the same thing 100 times or your head explodes)
fondness of spiders and bees (and all manner of bugs)
the ability to look at a box from all angles (and say wtf? its a box!)
and a spare rolex for someone (hint hint ;))
Big penis.
w00t, i'm getting into Beta :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
w00t, i'm getting into Beta :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:I said big not small :/
I said big not small :/
Dude, I told you, when we measured sizes, you had the ruler the wrong way around so yours isnt really 29cm :p
Dude, I told you, when we measured sizes, you had the ruler the wrong way around so yours isnt really 29cm :pits 92? WOOOOOOOOOOOOT
I think the most important thing is ethics.
Being ethical enough to report exploitable bugs, being ethical enough to hold the NDA, being ethical enough to treat other testers with respect, ect.
Also, someone with a LOT of patience and a lot of time is nice too. I've done Beta's and I've had my software beta'd, you need MASSIVE amounts of time to find every bug. I mean damn, how long has it been since NC came out and we're STILL finding new bugs. you also need the patience to do something 20 times even though 10 times your game crashes, to find out what you were doing that made it crash.
Also, this is more important for command-line programs or GUI programs, but you need someone that will do crazy things that no normal user would ever try or think of. I've literally gotten a bug report (for some vehicle database software for a municipality I wrote on commission) that went like this "Control-right clicking the ADO control allows the user to access a menu where if an out-of-bounds string is inputed (more than 255 chracters to this program) then the database can be corrupted."
WHO THE HELL WOULD THINK TO DO THAT!?!? but if someone was trying to right-click paste and accidentally hit the ADO instead of the text field then they could have erased their entire years worth of work order reports when they pasted a big string into the ADO's data field. so I'm very glad I found the bug... if that tester wouldn't have been so... random, I never would have.
People who can think of all sorts of ways to exploit . .lol. And will report their findings.
My Sig says it all :-p
I should be a beta tester because I'll find just about every exploit there is.
oh and considering the fact I'm going to college for game development...
Look closely in the middle
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