It's not even quite a beta, yet.

[reload]

Maybe I'm just getting too involved and bogged down with these forums, but there's a funny atmosphere round these parts. I'm normally reasonably eloquent but I can't seem to get all my thoughts together on this.

Both Frontier Developments and the community can help clear up this situation.

For our part: There have been some spectacularly projectile toys of late, some almost justifiable but most not. A lot of the newer Premium Beta testers that perhaps don't read these forums in great detail in particular are throwing fits whilst forgetting that you are going to lose all of your saves repeatedly during this process. It's not even worth whining about griefing at this stage.

For FD's part: There needs to be more communication, more transparency on the testing process. Perhaps an insert on the loading screen reminding people of the above facts and how the game is nowhere near feature complete or worthy of the keyboard time a 'review' will take. We need to know what we are expected to be testing: Give the community a clearly defined task and let us do it, rather than throwing us in a pot with a couple of features and seeing what happens. That way can only lead to a sour taste in the mouths of paying customers.

 

[Roepie]

I completely agree with OP.
I do not understand the people who get frustrated after being shot down, CTD and losing money etc. etc.

 

[Asmodi]

I actually think this is a great post.
I have only played a couple of hours since PB release as its ok but nothing great at the moment and im not going to spend hours on something that will get wiped.
As for FD well all we are doing is paying them to test their game. (More I think about that the more I think we all got caught up in the romance of Elite ) .

However you make a great point.
Instead of flying around aimlessly get the community to go out and really test some things.

Hell we don't even need to be in Sidewinders.
Throw out random ships to people and get a broader feedback on them.

 

[Jack Booted Thug]

For FD's part: There needs to be more communication, more transparency on the testing process. Perhaps an insert on the loading screen reminding people of the above facts and how the game is nowhere near feature complete or worthy of the keyboard time a 'review' will take. We need to know what we are expected to be testing: Give the community a clearly defined task and let us do it, rather than throwing us in a pot with a couple of features and seeing what happens. That way can only lead to a sour taste in the mouths of paying customers.

I think the communication from Frontier is fine.

There is the Design Discussion Archive which clearly lay out the design proposals for this game and even a cursory read of them reveals that the current Premium Beta build is lacking the majority of what will be in the final game.

False perceptions on the part of many of the new testers are really self wrought due to not taking the time to read up on the information already available.

Isn't a call for Frontier to reveal the obvious in a more blatant fashion a call for babysitting new players? I'd like to think that we are all a little more competent than that and that the "few" who are complaining are really just a loud minority.

 

[Hellhawk666]

Premium beta 1.0 is a stress test of the existing mechanics. That's it. A system that worked (albeit with bugs) with a few hundred testers is now being pushed hard by thousands. The tickets raised during this process are invaluable in helping the development of the game. FD will give us the next build when they feel it is ready, rinse and repeat.

 

[reload]

As for FD well all we are doing is paying them to test their game. (More I think about that the more I think we all got caught up in the romance of Elite ) .

This is something that gets forgotten lots by the various nay-sayers and people decrying paying £100 to beta test a game - I and I am sure a lot of other of the game's testers put in their hard-earned in order to support a game they've been waiting twenty or so years for. Everything else we get is just a nice cherry on top until the final release

There is the Design Discussion Archive which clearly lay out the design proposals for this game and even a cursory read of them reveals that the current Premium Beta build is lacking the majority of what will be in the final game.

I've delved into the DDA and had a look around. It can however be somewhat daunting with the sheer overload of information/posts there, and I am absolutely certain that there are a significant proportion (probably even the majority) of premium beta signups that don't visit or read these forums, certainly not in depth, until they come across what they see as an insurmountable problem with the game - at which point they come looking for guidance, which leads me nicely on to your next point.

Isn't a call for Frontier to reveal the obvious in a more blatant fashion a call for babysitting new players? I'd like to think that we are all a little more competent than that and that the "few" who are complaining are really just a loud minority.

Oh I agree with you, don't get me wrong. It just might help remind people that what they are playing is nowhere near the finished game, no matter how polished it may seem. That, and the fact that what they are actually playing is what would in a normal development scenario be an internal test version.

Replacing the spinning Sidewinder with a few notes on the current test build I think would be a good step; it's not onerous for Frontier, and for those of us playing lots we can quite easily mentally blank it out.

 

[Darojax]

 

[gazzareth]

Replacing the spinning Sidewinder with a few notes on the current test build I think would be a good step; it's not onerous for Frontier, and for those of us playing lots we can quite easily mentally blank it out.

Thats a good idea, lets us know what specifically they want testing..

G

 

[Ben Ryder]

Maybe I'm just getting too involved and bogged down with these forums, but there's a funny atmosphere round these parts. I'm normally reasonably eloquent but I can't seem to get all my thoughts together on this.

Both Frontier Developments and the community can help clear up this situation.

For our part: There have been some spectacularly projectile toys of late, some almost justifiable but most not. A lot of the newer Premium Beta testers that perhaps don't read these forums in great detail in particular are throwing fits whilst forgetting that you are going to lose all of your saves repeatedly during this process. It's not even worth whining about griefing at this stage.

For FD's part: There needs to be more communication, more transparency on the testing process. Perhaps an insert on the loading screen reminding people of the above facts and how the game is nowhere near feature complete or worthy of the keyboard time a 'review' will take. We need to know what we are expected to be testing: Give the community a clearly defined task and let us do it, rather than throwing us in a pot with a couple of features and seeing what happens. That way can only lead to a sour taste in the mouths of paying customers.

Spot on!

 

[TheDoctor]

We know that the next build is coming quite soon as David said so at E3 during the Gamespot interview and it could mean that it will include a big increase in star systems at the new bigger space station they showed was 100 light years away from the current build.

That or they will move us all to that section of space and close down this one but no matter we shall be seeing newer stuff.

I still have put in 15 hours of play and I was expecting a fortnightly/montly wipe from now to gamma.

 

[mojonaut]

OP - nails it

 

[Hellhawk666]

...
I've delved into the DDA and had a look around. It can however be somewhat daunting with the sheer overload of information/posts there, and I am absolutely certain that there are a significant proportion (probably even the majority) of premium beta signups that don't visit or read these forums, certainly not in depth, until they come across what they see as an insurmountable problem with the game - at which point they come looking for guidance, which leads me nicely on to your next point.
...

This is true. The DDA can look, and be, a bit daunting - particularly some of the threads. However all that is really necessary is to read the OP in each thread, particularly the stickies, as these reflect the more-or-less finalised proposals that we thrashed out in the DDF.

That said, some of the OPs are a bit vague about details and mechanisms of gamepay, but if you read those relating to features we already have you'll notice that they are definitely being implemented as promised.

 

[Patrick_68000]

The term "Premium beta" speaks for itself. It does mean a blank of game. In no case a game. the money does not buy everything. And even less the playability

 

[PacalB]

I've delved into the DDA and had a look around. It can however be somewhat daunting with the sheer overload of information/posts there, and I am absolutely certain that there are a significant proportion (probably even the majority) of premium beta signups that don't visit or read these forums, certainly not in depth, until they come across what they see as an insurmountable problem with the game - at which point they come looking for guidance, which leads me nicely on to your next point.

Okay, hold up a moment, hold right there.

The DDA doesn't need to be delved in deeply to get a good understanding of exactly how deep and currently incomplete the game is. You only have to pick your way through the very first dev post of the proposals to see exactly the depth of the game. For people who are spending £100 or more "backing" the development of the game, you'd think they would have either read the very first posts of the DDA's before they pressed the "Accept" payment button for the Premium Beta.

To think that people don't do that and then come to the forums to pour their frustrations out on what the game is not to them is just ridiculous. So lets get this straight, they are ready to pour their guts out and stamp their feet about what its not to them and get into long drawn out arguments about how frustrated they are ... but ... they are too damn lazy to spend even half or even quarter of that time reading the top post in DDA threads?

It's ridiculous, ridiculous that they should "expect" sympathetic ears (eyes?) on these forums for their inability to do the basically obvious, read the DDA's first post to get a idea for the DEPTH of the game. How many times does this have to be explained? How many times has DB and others spoken about the DDF in videos on the game? How many times have people on these forums linked to the DDA's? How many times have FD emails sent out referred to the DDF and DDA's?

No, the information is all here, personally I can sympathise with new folk who have just heard about the game, but people who have paid for the Beta and then post grievance threads up? They are just a joke, I don't see why this community has to tiptoe around telling them so, it's just ridiculous, they are ridiculous!

Rant over.

 

[Jimus]

I agree, I've been lurking here for months and playing since the Alpha 1 combat scenarios were released for PB backers.

I know it's a work in progress and any progress I make in the game is going to be reset a few times before the game goes Gamma.

I've just been playing and had 3 CTD in a row loading up a new session and trying to leave the station. It's been ticketed and crash dumps have been uploaded. Is it frustrating? A little, but I had a 3 hour session this morning with no crashes so it's a mixed bag. Ultimately I'm here to test the game and help make it the best it can be before it launches.

I don't want to burnout so after today I probably won't play again until PB 2.0 is released with the new station.

Fly safe commanders, see you out there.

 

[Amos]

A lot of the newer Premium Beta testers that perhaps don't read these forums in great detail in particular are throwing fits whilst forgetting that you are going to lose all of your saves repeatedly during this process. It's not even worth whining about griefing at this stage.

Beta testing a game or application has its own learning curve and that is called self control trying not to play but test and being that can be easier said than done.

 

[kilvenny]

It comes down to expectation of what a beta is. I think FD have been very clear as to what it is and I have never been in doubt, but then I have followed this for 18 months or so.

However the website is very misleading it says.

Elite: Dangerous available to play now!

It is possible to "play" but its a very much inverted comma's "play". "Play test" would be better.

 

[Half Giant]

Are there a lot of people getting worked up? You mention griefing so let's use that as an example. I think it's a valid discussion. Most of what I've read is people highlighting a concern and suggesting a solution. Somehow this gets interpreted as whining. Isn't this the right place and time to speculate and discuss. Someone may disagree with the concern or the discussion, in which case they should discuss it calmly. I think the trouble comes when people get emotional and use inflammatory terms to try and make their point. I'd say if a post annoys you then take a breath then read it again with a more generous spin. Assume the poster is just heated and would benefit from a measured response.

 

[Adam Lusardi]

Some testers when posting cannot even be bothered to read there own threads they created and repost on them the same questions.

 

[reload]

Some of these replies are pretty much exactly what I'm talking about, these are why I think it'd be helpful for a little more communication from FD to help us testers remember that we need more patience. As someone has mentioned elsewhere (I forget where now...) they are recruiting a community manager which I guess will be a good step in the right direction.

If nothing else, it might ease the load on these forums and prevent a few aneurysms in more frequent visitors. I'll admit I'm just as guilty as anyone at occasionally getting a twitching eyelid over a post that has particularly raised my blood pressure, although I try to be patient and helpful!