How long is the Alpha phase of the Beta phase?

HoshiQaVam

H
baddog said:
I paid for full access to the premium beta version of the software.

Once the software has reached the premium beta stage, I expect the same access to it as alpha backers.

I expect to be able to log in to the server and find out if it is broken or not myself.

I am quite capable of raising tickets. I do not require updates to be checked by anyone else before I am allowed to use them.

It's really as simple as that.
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It clearly isn't that simple otherwise this entire thread wouldn't exist.

Whether it's alpha testers, devs, or in-house QA testers, someone else was always going to have those couple hours access before you.

That is how game development works in beta. That is what you have paid for. You did not pay to be part of the dev team, nor did you pay to be part of the QA team.

Like it or not, but that extra money Alphas paid means that they did pay to be part of the QA team.

Deal with it.
 

ubermick

ubermick
Pecisk said:
That second argument is not good one, especially as no one here has expressed such attitude.
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Well, within a half hour of you saying that, I just read a post responding to someone who simply seemed to be stating that they wanted to get what they paid for which said "Like it or not, but that extra money Alphas paid means that they did pay to be part of the QA team. Deal with it."

Again, I've not got the lay of the land 'round here, but with statements like that, coupled with the frustration some people may be understandably feeling, I can see why there's a certain level of discord.
 

Rog

Rog
Again, I'm only posting as a direct reply, otherwise I'm prepared to wait and see what actually happens. Apologies for a long-ish post...
Pecisk said:
And you have evidence based on....? You seem to confuse what's PR job is - theirs is to sell a little safeguard FD is forced to introduce as somehow a benefit of alpha.
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From Newsletter #18
I've run it through my hidden meaning detector, and drawn a blank. It really does look like 'join the alpha, here's why' and not 'all beta builds will be subject to pre-testing by those already in alpha which is so horrendous you shouldn't join'.

If alpha would be 50 - 70 gbp, I would agree it would sound interesting, but alpha is so ridiculously expensive, that any claims of cashing in, cash grab, etc. are just plain funny and dumb. At this point some people will update (so FD don't get full alpha price anyway), very few (if any) will buy complete alpha access. Together it's not worth even a regular week of sales of finished game.

Also if you think FD needs funds, check out their reports to shareholders.
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Your last point first: I don't think FD 'needs' funds, but they are a commercial entity that has shareholders and a bottom line. Any money from people buying into alpha now is obviously extra money in the bank. I do not think and have not said the final release will be delayed: it's expected in September, is it not?

It was floated previously by many forumians. You just choose to ignore it.
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By 'it' do you mean that alpha people testing the beta releases first as a QA measure? If so, that was *one* of the theories bandied about based on absolutely nothing but fresh air. The *most *dominant one was 'it's a nice thank-you for all the hardwork and patience of people in the alpha'. This was often accompanied with sniping and accusations of whingeing/crying etc. Just the reactions I'd be looking for in QA testers. :)

After several days of utter silence on the matter, FD chose the 'QA' reason, and suggested that the 'exclusive' brand new, never previously hinted at, let alone announced alpha access period would be a matter of hours. Not surprising. Michael Brookes has now suggested the alpha pre-test period could be a few hours. We shall see, but I'm willing to take that in faith and see what happens. (I still don't agree with the principal though.)

I really don't think I've posted anything not actually factual here, so I don't understand why you won't let it go. I'm quite prepared to wait and see what happens from here, what about you?
 

Cmdr Eagleboy

Cmdr Eagleboy
Rog said:
I really don't think I've posted anything not actually factual here, so I don't understand why you won't let it go. I'm quite prepared to wait and see what happens from here, what about you?
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You posted claims you really don't have evidence of, as a facts. You pick and choose them as it suits your emotions. Period.
 

Leonick

L
Patrick_68000 said:
Few hours, perhaps for the premium beta, but for the standard beta ?

:p
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I'd expect it to be the same when we reach the standard beta (why would it be different). New builds released to alpha players, if there are no critical issues the build is pushed to all the beta testers.
 

Amorelia

A
Pecisk said:
It was floated previously by many forumians. You just choose to ignore it.
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Why are you stirring the pot? If you seriously think anyone should believe any of the hype and speculation, have a rethink. We should not need a bunch of ill-informed opinions.
 

Faerie

Faerie
Leonick said:
I'd expect it to be the same when we reach the standard beta (why would it be different). New builds released to alpha players, if there are no critical issues the build is pushed to all the beta testers.
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An interesting point. Personally I would expect the standard beta to be released to both alpha & premium beta testers because by that time the builds *should* be stable enough to support their numbers.
All the same, it's perfectly feasible that any new build could introduce a showstopper, so I respect FD's decision on how this is handled.
 

Leonick

L
Faerie said:
An interesting point. Personally I would expect the standard beta to be released to both alpha & premium beta testers because by that time the builds *should* be stable enough to support their numbers.
All the same, it's perfectly feasible that any new build could introduce a showstopper, so I respect FD's decision on how this is handled.
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I wouldn't expect that myself. If the purpose of giving the alpha players the new builds first is to do a quick external check for showstoppers there's no point in having more people than necessary for that (just in case there actually is an issue). More importantly though, as they've used all beta builds being given exclusively to alpha players first as a bit of a sales pitch I don't think they'd want to change those terms.
 

Frank

Frank
Rog said:
Again, I'm only posting as a direct reply, otherwise I'm prepared to wait and see what actually happens. Apologies for a long-ish post...
From Newsletter #18
I've run it through my hidden meaning detector, and drawn a blank. It really does look like 'join the alpha, here's why' and not 'all beta builds will be subject to pre-testing by those already in alpha which is so horrendous you shouldn't join'.
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Whenever I was thinking about upgrading to Alpha I'd always think that there wouldn't be much point because the Alpha would soon be over. I'd feel sorry for anyone that buys Alpha without reading this thread and finds that the vast sums they've spent only buys them "a few hours" of exclusive Beta.

Does that "hidden meaning" detector of yours have a "meaning" setting as well? It's just that I find it hard to get my head around the Alpha exclusivity of the Standard Beta test. This means that if I have Premium Beta I eventually get to play the game, but then I loose this access so that Alpha players can get their exclusive access to the Standard Beta? Do the Premium and Standard Betas run in parallel? Is there a big difference in the content of the two Betas?

I was thinking of upgrading to the Premium Beta. Now I'm not so sure. It's so difficult to decide when you don't have all the information to work to.
 

Gibbonici

Gibbonici
Frank said:
Does that "hidden meaning" detector of yours have a "meaning" setting as well? It's just that I find it hard to get my head around the Alpha exclusivity of the Standard Beta test. This means that if I have Premium Beta I eventually get to play the game, but then I loose this access so that Alpha players can get their exclusive access to the Standard Beta? Do the Premium and Standard Betas run in parallel? Is there a big difference in the content of the two Betas?

I was thinking of upgrading to the Premium Beta. Now I'm not so sure. It's so difficult to decide when you don't have all the information to work to.
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There should be more information from FD next week which will clarify the Premium and Standard Beta conditions. At the moment, all we know is that each new beta build will go through a brief alpha test before being opened up to the beta backers.

We don't know if it means that beta will be unavailable while new builds are being alpha tested, or whether the alpha test will happen alongside continuing beta of the previous build (although thinking about it now, betaing the previous version is probably pointless from a dev perspective).

Things should become clearer next week.
 
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