Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Beta Blues - the do's and don'ts of beta participation
by Raya

Assuming that, like the rest of us fanbois and gurlls, you have applied to Sigil to be invited as a Vanguard beta tester. And you are waiting patiently…well, as patiently as you can, in between checking your email inbox twenty times a day.

For argument's sake, let's pick a fictional hero and let's call him…oh, just at random…2kewl4u.* 2kewl4u, after patiently waiting for his invite, finally decides that, because he is such a desirable tester, they just must have goofed and overlooked him.

So 2kewl4u spends at least fifteen whole minutes on an email…he means to do it right the first time around. The email is addressed to Cindy Bowens. If she is the community manager, he figures, then let her earn her pay, right? I mean, after all, he thinks, somewhere in the dim recesses of his mind that is also occupied with seeing how many times he can say the "F" word in one sentence, what does a community manager have to do except sit around and boss the community? 2kewl4u makes it perfectly plain in his email that he is on to her careless ways and that he will graciously overlook her negligence this one time before he lets her boss know what a bad job he thinks she is doing.

Two days later - still no response. This time, he decides Glip is the person to tackle. Glip is a guy, see, and he will understand how guys like 2kewl4u need to be taken seriously. So 2kewl writes a masterpiece of an email. In it he lavishes praise on Glip, what a good guy he is and all that. Then he mentions confidentially how Sigil is making a serious mistake in not inviting him into beta. "Cuz ya no, Glip," he says, "you and me no wut makes a gud tester, rite? So mebbe u can talk to them and put a bur up there tales cuz they need to get me on thir side." [sic]

2kewl4u is absolutely certain this email will do the trick. By now, he has taken to hanging around in various IRCs and other Vanguard chats, trying to figure out how everyone else is doing it. But people seem to be kind of mean and close-mouthed about the whole thing. If it was him, he'd pwn them with his stories of beta prowess.

Finally, 2kewl4u decides that Glip either didn't get his email or he is just not on the job. At last…2kewl4u feels he has no other choice but to go to the main man.

You don't get to be main man by missing opportunities, 2kewl thinks. The Bradster will recognize all 2kewl's great assets and talents and…stuff.
So he spends a full twenty minutes this time devising a very polite and detailed email to Brad McQuaid. Never let it be said that any dev daunted 2kewl4u McBottom. His email patiently points out that he has been waiting for quite a while now and is sure it is just an oversight (well, he actually says, you didn't get all your soljers lined up rite) and that he feels that by bringing it to Brad's attention (just letting ya no buddy) things will fall into place admirably (we can pwn those other stopid gamz).

While 2kewl is patiently waiting, he goes back to the official Vanguard forum and complains bitterly about the lack of response in beta invites and how l33t he is and he can pwn anyone on the server, and lots of witty things too.

Some forum regulars try to point out the error of his ways, but 2kewl figures they are just jealous cuz he is soon gonna be beta'd and they aren't…right?

2kewl4u never hears from Sigil again and can't figure out what went wrong.

Of course, I am exaggerating, and there is no such person as 2kewl4u--I made him up out of my evil little mind. But wait, there have been emails similar to what I am talking about…just read the forums if you don't believe me. And in other beta testing situations in other games, the horror stories are as bad, if not worse *cough WoW cough*.

The main mistake that beta-hopefuls are making is in thinking that beta is a reward for being great. Not so, my friend. Testing beta is a contractual situation wherein you, the tester, agree with GreatGames Ltd., the developer, to have access to a game that has not been finished yet. You have the opportunity of helping GGL create the best game possible and, in return, you get a look at the game before anyone else does--well, anyone else if you are not counting the other 5,000 beta testers. The way gaming companies selects the beta testers is by need.

If they need 20 more testers, they go through their applications and pick 20 that look good--i.e. they have the necessary comp specs, have some experience (or no experience at all, depending on what they are testing). You have to put yourself in the beta selectors' shoes…if they want to test something to see if hardcore gamers will be intrigued…they get in the required number of hardcore gamers. If they want to test something that may be too hard for the average gamer (or too easy), they get in the required number of medium players. And so on.

They do NOT base their decision on your looks, your education, the amount of money you make (or do not make)…nor do they base it on your personality, your state of health or your time zone. Nor do they base it on your food habits, your popularity with people of the same sex, opposite sex, or…well, we won't go there.

They DO base it on your computer specs, your past experience, your reliability, your willingness to follow direction, your ability to communicate. They also base it on the perceived ease of working with you AND whether or not you have any tendencies or history of not following the NDA (i.e. are you able to keep your mouth shut?). Since I am not inside the minds of beta tester selectors, there may be more criteria that I am not aware of.

So with this information in mind, let's go back to our imaginary friend 2kewl4u and find out how he presented himself as a possible beta testing candidate. How many of the requirements did he comply with?

1. He probably has the computer requirements, although that is not a given. Many times the selectors don't say what the requirements are, but they do check what your specs are to see if you can play the game at the level they need you to play.

2. He um… well, possibly he has the needed amount of experience.

3. And that seems to be it.

Let's see how he did in the other departments:

1. Reliability? How reliable is someone who sidesteps all the tenets of business communication and tries to bully an employee of a company into complying with his wishes by threatening to tell her boss how badly she is doing?

2. Willingness to follow direction? How many times has the OVF been decorated with heartfelt pleas to not send emails to Cindy, Glip, Brad, Zack or anyone else on Sigil staff? 'Nuff said.

3. Ability to communicate? Erm…saying words is not communicating.

4. Easy to work with? Well, yeah, maybe, and so is a polar bear with a toothache.

5. History of not following an NDA? Perhaps not, but the statement that he would broadcast his beta status all over the place is not good promotion for him and would certainly start alarm bells ringing in the minds of the beta selection staff.

A possible two out of seven will not earn our hero a beta spot, no matter how l33t he thinks he is.

Now, supposing another hero, let's call him Kidroxor,* DID manage to get a beta spot by not being so outspoken in areas that are no-nos for beta testers. What are the do's and don'ts here?

Let your imagination soar a little…imagine the thrill of our hero being in the game itself. I mean, IN THE GAME ITSELF! After Kidroxor calms down, he starts looking about and sees…things…lots of things. We can't go into details because this is all supposition, but he is excited…and pleased…and he can't wait to tell his friends.

Oh ho ho ho…WAIT a minute! He CAN'T tell his friends, or his family, or his dog. He can't even tell his mirror. Because why? Because he has affirmed in pixilated blood that he won't. RL translation: he has electronically "signed" an agreement of non-disclosure.

Kidroxor has trouble even saying "non-disclosure" real fast, and he certainly didn't read all that legalese garbage before he went charging into the game. But for the benefit of any like the Kid, the University of California at San Diego Business Faculty defines the non-disclosure agreement as follows:

<i>A nondisclosure agreement, also called a confidentiality agreement or proprietary information agreement, is a contract whereby the parties exchange information that they agree to maintain in confidence for a certain period of time. Nondisclosure agreements are often used when contractors want to provide advance information to the University before such information becomes generally available to their competition or to the general public.

Examples of such information include pre-release and beta software, trade secrets, and advance product information provided to University researchers for research or evaluation purposes. Confidentiality or nondisclosure provisions can also be included in license agreements and sales contracts.

Once accepted on behalf of the University, the department faculty and staff to whom the information is disclosed are responsible compliance with all contractual requirements.</i>

In the game beta we are talking about here, the non-disclosure agreement is binding, and any breach of this contract is an unlawful violation, which could be followed up by remedies at law (which is a fancy way of saying you could have your butt sued off).

So, let's take a look at what IS a breach of a non-disclosure agreement regarding beta-testing.

1. <b>Generally you are required to refrain from telling anyone that you are a member of the game's beta testing.</b> That means you must not tell anyone, and usually it includes speaking directly or indirectly, i.e. you can't say flat out: "Guess what? I'm in Vanguard beta testing!" Not even beating around the bush can you say it: "Sorry, I can't come and play WoW with you; I'm playing the game of my dreams…oops, I didn't mean to say that. Scratch that last part."

2. <b>Generally you are required to refrain from revealing any information you might acquire as a beta tester.</b> Say you ran across a huge monster in a cool part of the game while you were testing. You could not say directly, "Hey, guess what? I ran across a huge monster in a cool part of the game while I was testing," to anyone. You could also not say, "The Chugga-Mugga MMO has huge monsters in cool parts of the game." Friend: "How do you know?" You: "Oh, I have my sources." Friend: "No, really, how do you know?" You: "I can't tell. I'm not allowed to tell, so don't ask me." Friend: "Oh, you lucky dog, you're in beta, aren't you?" You: "…"

3.Generally you are required to protect any information you receive during beta testing with your life. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow…oh wait, wrong occupation. This one is very stringent, in that you are usually required to refrain from keeping any kind of documentation about the game. This includes logs of conversations, beta screenshots you take, or any software that is provided. If you should inadvertently end up with said stuff, you are required to return it to the beta testing company. For whatever beta testing you are invited into, make sure you read that particular part so you know exactly what you are required to do.

4. And, if you do come across anybody disseminating the stuff (broadcasting beta information in any way), you are bound to report such breaches to the beta testing company.

There are other terms involved in a Non-Disclosure or Confidentiality Agreement, and they all protect the interests of the beta testing company.

Now why would a company go to such lengths to spoil your fun? After all, you don't mean any harm by telling your friends that, "Hey, I am a beta tester for BIG GAME MMOs!" You really like it when they exclaim what a lucky bastage you are.

NEWFLASH! It all boils down to fairness--and eventually money. When a game is in beta, it's not SUPPOSED to be finished. That's why the company invites testers in to test it. Now you go blabbing off to your friends that (a) you're in beta; and (b) you are the big shot on campus because you found out that the mob tracker was so buggy you couldn't move--or whatever big bug you find. Then your friends think you are way cool, because you are helping this big company test that great game that's coming out.

Except if they hear too many stories like that, they begin to think, hey, I don't want to play a game that's got bugs like that.

Or you give a skewed account of what playing is really like because you don't know the ins and outs yet.

Or…or…many ways you can ruin BIG GAME MMOs' reputation, without even meaning to.

Or you could tell your friends only that you are beta testing, and they say, singly or all together, "Aw c'mon you can tell me what it's like. I won't tell anybody." And, being only human, you allow yourself to be persuaded.

Best way to stop that is…JUST DON'T DO IT.

Another reason is industrial espionage.

You think it doesn't happen? You bet your sweet Sword of Shannara it does. There have been documented instances where a well-known developer of games let slip one fact about the game coming up. Another game developer got hold of that information and hastily included that particular facet into its game, then launched a month or two in advance of the first company. The first company was left fuming, seen as an imitator, when in fact the idea was conceived and developed by it.

This is only one small part that is very noticeable. If you go blabbing about the technical aspects of what you see in a beta testing environment, you may not know yourself what crucial facts you are letting slip.

This is not fair, and it is not economically sound for the beta testing company. And, if you do anything that contravenes the Non-Disclosure Agreement, you will be dumped as a beta tester. It doesn't matter that you don't think one small slip-up important. The company does, and they have poured thousands of dollars into this project to back up their thoughts. If the breach is serious enough, you will be lucky if you only get dumped and not sued as well. Of course, I really can't speak for the companies on whether they would do this or not, but it would be within their rights, since, as I stated above, you agreed to enter into a legal contract with the company when you accepted a spot in the beta testing.

So what are the do's?

There are a lot of them and most of them make a lot of ordinary, common sense.

Do work with the devs and the GMs in in-game beta testing.

Do try things out to see if they work.

Do follow the proper procedures of reporting things that don't work as they should. Every game company has their own procedures for beta testing and they will ask you to follow them.

Do be patient in-game. Remember, the game is not finished, and the lower the number of beta, the more errors, bugs and frustrations will occur. That is part of the job of beta testing.

Do help others out as much as possible. When newcomers enter beta they are often bewildered by the things that don't work and they are often too new to the set-up to realize what is broken and what is just something they don't understand yet.

Do communicate. When reporting bugs, etc., make sure you follow the usual requirements of reporting where in the game the bug occurred, can you recreate the situation that triggered the bug, what kind of bug is it, and so on.

Do adopt the attitude of working with the team. It promotes faster recognition of errors and faster correction.

Do accept that you are not going to be able to play like you do in a finished game. There are times when your main character may be irretrievably deleted or a bug will not allow you to enter the game or…lots of frustrations. It is a normal part of beta testing.

Do follow all in-game instructions as well as out of game directions.

Do read the beta forums every day and participate as much as you can.

There are probably a dozen more do's that experienced beta testers can think of but these are a good start.

Beta testing can be fun, but you have to be prepared for what it is…just that, a test. The thrill of being involved in a great game is wonderful. But it is a game undergoing testing. When the game goes live, you can then say--once the NDA is lifted--something like, "I helped this game. Here is where I discovered that swimming across the river would turn you purple. Man, you should have seen all the purple people eaters, it was awesome." THEN you can enjoy the glow of reputation and a job well done.

(* Author's note: These names are all fictitious and products of my fevered imagination. If they should inadvertently also be the in-game names or forum names of real people, this was entirely unintentional, and nothing herein is implied or intended to cast any negative implications on or attribute undesirable traits to any players so named or similarly named..)