Introversion

maninalift wrote:I already wrote subversion on my spectrum 64 in 1992, and yes I know it was already 10 year old hardware but such was the efficiency of my city-generation algorithms it didn't matter.

Does that qualify me to be a date eater?

And before anyone gives a smart-ass comment, no I can't play the one I wrote. I didn't have a tape drive so I couldn't save it.

Provide any form of proof and I'll make sure you'll get the chance to get the chance to be one if possible.

bobusdoleus wrote:Sweet, flaming cape. The only thing more badass is like... A unicorn... made of fire.
It is intriguing how many point-by-point rebuttals the observation/opinion that 'deliberately derailing threads by wielding forum-clout as a club because you personally think the thread is stupid is being a bit dickish' generates. Which I totally did (sans the forum clout), and it's dickish, especially if all'a'y'all were enjoying your fruit discussion.
Well, sort of. I made a post and people kept responding to it, rather than insisting that 'Thread is X now because I say so.' But it was with a personal criticism, which is equally inflammatory. I started the flame war, you see. Worlds turning and all that. Also fruit was never the original topic.

(I guess I haven't left after all! Good way to wile away an afternoon, this. Cheerio.)

I'm pretty sure you just want to argue, and nothing more. There's no need to force it. Stick around these forums for a week and the opportunity will come up for sure.

maninalift wrote:I already wrote subversion on my spectrum 64 in 1992, and yes I know it was already 10 year old hardware but such was the efficiency of my city-generation algorithms it didn't matter.

Does that qualify me to be a beta tester?

It might qualify you for a white box component test to ensure it meets entry requirements for a beta test...

But that have their own developers for that.


I don't want that to be too barbed. The best qualification is obviously prior experience with an IV beta test. The next (and arguably last) is quality of forum activity, that is, being a community veteran. The cool thing about being a veteran is that all you have to do to be one is be a part of the community for a while. Participate in that and IV may trust you to participate in their "Let's make sure turn this inevitably bug-riddled piece of shit into quality software" initiative.

As an aside: Look at how inactive practically all of the people saying "I want to beta test!" are in this topic. It's almost like they just want to play the game early and don't want to pay for it. If they only knew that they earlier test versions we were given for Defcon and Multiwinia were unplayable, i.e. CPU controlled in its entirety. We sat there, watching a game playing itself, saying "That shouldn't happen" a whole lot before Chris let us give those submarines and stickmen instructions ourselves. Fortunate for them that this might not have that kind of AI. Unfortunate for them they didn't stick around and find out.
This, I would suspect, is a huge part of xander's complaint about this kind of thread. Put their "interest" down in writing and just clear off, presumably until it's closer to the time, more likely never.

bobusdoleus wrote:(I guess I haven't left after all! Good way to wile away an afternoon, this. Cheerio.)

You came back! Take me now, oh handsome acne-plagued overweight defender of the internets, you! Don't you hear me? I must have you! I crave the gargantuan eat beast inside that white armour, glistening with your mighty pubescent greasiness, pungent with the odour of so much of your masculinity and so little of your bathing!

bobusdoleus wrote:It is intriguing how many point-by-point rebuttals the observation/opinion that 'deliberately derailing threads by wielding forum-clout as a club because you personally think the thread is stupid is being a bit dickish' generates. Which I totally did (sans the forum clout), and it's dickish, especially if all'a'y'all were enjoying your fruit discussion.

I humourously declared the topic to be about fruit because the original topic sucked, and I wanted to talk about fruit. Or, at least, my intention was to be funny. If you want to further derail the topic, I don't really care. Anything is better than the original. Though, for the record, dates are amazing. You should have a few. As a bonus, they might clear up your obvious constipation.

bobusdoleus wrote:Well, sort of. I made a post and people kept responding to it, rather than insisting that 'Thread is X now because I say so.' But it was with a personal criticism, which is equally inflammatory. I started the flame war, you see. Worlds turning and all that. Also fruit was never the original topic.

You didn't start a flame war. This thread was burning long before you got here. You just strapped some napalm to your back and waded on in. Of course, I still haven't given up the notion that you are either a forum vet having a bit of a lark, or one of the n00bs who posted above, trying to get some licks in. In either case (or neither case), have fun. I know I am.

NeatNit: Lies! And also, your mother smells of elderberries!

xander

@NeatNit: Fair enough; I suppose I've beaten whatever point I've been making into a pulp by now.

Unplayable test versions, eh? I'm interested in the nomenclature of the testing process now. I thought 'beta' version implied a basically playable game that developers were still polishing and balancing, testing features on, getting feedback on like UI usability, in addition to mass hardware testing? Were you in on, like, alpha testing? Or is Beta testing a different concept than I think it is (which it well may be)?

I wouldn't want to beta test. I'd like /access/ to the beta, who wouldn't, getting the game early AND watching features be added regularly is sweet, but if I'm going to replicate bugs and file reports esp. on legit unplayable test software I'd rather be paid for it, heh.

Ah, man, now I want to eat an eat beast. Then I'd be an eat-beast-eat-beast. All would bask in my glisteningly greasy glory.

bobusdoleus wrote:Unplayable test versions, eh? I'm interested in the nomenclature of the testing process now. I thought 'beta' version implied a basically playable game that developers were still polishing and balancing, testing features on, getting feedback on like UI usability, in addition to mass hardware testing?

The problem here is that you're assuming you beta test the entire game. Beta testing of the previous games happened in phases, with different phases focusing in different parts, and the first one being non-playable and designed for hardware testing. In effect we didn't have full access to the game until pretty close to release.

So you were beta testing the engine? Also, if any of you beta tested for other companies as well: Is this standard practice, this phase-based testing?

@Xander You bet I will. Although I seem to remember hating dates. Prunes, on the other hand...

bobusdoleus wrote:So you were beta testing the engine? Also, if any of you beta tested for other companies as well: Is this standard practice, this phase-based testing?

I expect it is, although the phase where they allow public testing is usually pretty late into development so usually they are not very noticeable. So while in my time in the Battlefield Play4Free the game was pretty much feature complete except for some maps and the store, when the lego universe beta started you had access to the first zone and little else even though it was obvious many other features had been developed by then.

Early public betas are nto such a good deal for the testers, then, are they? You gotta fil out bug reports and everything.

Additionally, I present the Eat Beast.


All bow before its alliteratively glistening glory.

On the differences of alpha and beta testing:

That wiki thing. I hear it's quite reliable about stuff like this wrote:Alpha testing is simulated or actual operational testing by potential users/customers or an independent test team at the developers' site. Alpha testing is often employed for off-the-shelf software as a form of internal acceptance testing, before the software goes to beta testing.

Beta testing comes after alpha testing and can be considered a form of external user acceptance testing. Versions of the software, known as beta versions, are released to a limited audience outside of the programming team. The software is released to groups of people so that further testing can ensure the product has few faults or bugs. Sometimes, beta versions are made available to the open public to increase the feedback field to a maximal number of future users.

I wouldn't want to beta test. I'd like /access/ to the beta, who wouldn't, getting the game early AND watching features be added regularly is sweet, but if I'm going to replicate bugs and file reports esp. on legit unplayable test software I'd rather be paid for it, heh.

You get a free copy of a game you'll likely be sick of and an invitation to what might be a nightclub's basement in East London. If you're *really* lucky, the toilets will be fit for use and a lady in a fluffy dress won't inform you that your stuffed toys need to be better fed. 50% success rate in my experience, others may report something a lot higher.

You're not sold on this, are you.

Mas Tnega wrote:You get a free copy of a game you'll likely be sick of

Do you even get that? I'm pretty sure our beta keys got revoked and we had to buy the game anyway.

[quote]On the differences of alpha and beta testing:
That wiki thing. I hear it's quite reliable about stuff like this[/quote]

Well that's pretty vague, innit. It doesn't mention that the game may or may not be functional apparently. In fact, the wiki implies beta testing, being a form of User Acceptance Testing, is 'emulating real-world usage conditions on behalf of the paying client or a specific large customer.' Apparently your experience was different, which is interesting.

Xocrates wrote:

Mas Tnega wrote:You get a free copy of a game you'll likely be sick of

Do you even get that? I'm pretty sure our beta keys got revoked and we had to buy the game anyway.

I distinctly recall getting a really cool brown envelope with a working code. For Defcon. Had a Foamwinian and everything.

Aw, a foamwinian!?

Nevermind, it's totally worth it.

Mas Tnega wrote:You get a free copy of a game you'll likely be sick of and an invitation to what might be a nightclub's basement in East London. If you're *really* lucky, the toilets will be fit for use and a lady in a fluffy dress won't inform you that your stuffed toys need to be better fed. 50% success rate in my experience, others may report something a lot higher.

Man, I didn't even get that much, being on the wrong side of the Atlantic and all. :(

xander

jelco wrote:

Xocrates wrote:I'm pretty sure our beta keys got revoked and we had to buy the game anyway.

Oh, but were they...?

Well, my steam version of the multiwinia beta gives me a "version revoked" error and the non-steam one seems to be using the retail key, so that seems to be the case for multiwinia