Premium Beta for 2 weeks
- Thread starter Alex614
- Start date
No I think people said it was OUT in 2 weeks after the last alpha. I think it continues on from here for quite some time.
I suspect that PB will last considerably longer than 2 weeks. We don't really know how long yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was more like 2 months.
Is this true? I've seen it said and I've seen it disputed.
Alpha backers payed to test alpha, beta players are paying to test beta. Will premium beta players get updates two weeks in advance when standard releases, and alpha will get them 3 weeks prior?
It all seems a little convoluted.
Although it's been mentioned, it has also been stated it could be as short as a few hours on future buildouts. I wouldn't worry too much about it as if there is a major problem as we've already seen in the past I suspect everyone else will still be able to play whilst the alpha backers are staring at a spinning cobra (SSOD) with their head in their hands moaning about how they would rather be playing like everyone else? So there's good and bad, potentially.
Given that there seems to be an established principle of maintaining the value of kickstarter rewards, and the duration of exclusive alpha/first round beta/second round beta access can be seen as a reward, we can use the difference between pledge levels as a guide:
Alpha cost £100 more than Premium Beta Access and has lasted 5 months. £20 buys one month of exclusive access. Premium Beta costs £50 more than standard beta, so on this calculation PB should last 2.5 months...
Yes, this should not be taken as a serious prediction and software development schedules are never dictated by what customers paid for it
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Alpha cost £100 more than Premium Beta Access and has lasted 5 months. £20 buys one month of exclusive access. Premium Beta costs £50 more than standard beta, so on this calculation PB should last 2.5 months...
Yes, this should not be taken as a serious prediction and software development schedules are never dictated by what customers paid for it
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In last progress diary released just last week David mentioned premium beta taking few months. So I will guess it's two months at minimum, potentially more, but as it is beta in general (just beta early access and normal access), it could be normal beta will start on August.
AFAIK the price difference between premium and normal beta comes from the included expansion access anyway, not solely based on us getting the game sooner.
Well, sure, I don't think FD plans every phase to make it money's worth. Alpha was stretched out due of some unforeseen and some foreseen issues with network and AMD graphics cards. If game stability holds and FD keeps shooting down most glaring bugs at good pace, there's no point for beta being stretched out for no good reasons (other than actual gameplay testing).
Heh and I just noticed I pressed quote on your post instead of the one dealing with the "value" of pledges. Sorry about that
But I do agree, it doesn't have to be a prolonged beta, unless it's testing. But I do think it'll be a few months, seeing as half the systems is missing (fuel, news, factions, mission, etc) and introducing one per week seems quite unreasonable, at least imo. Well as long as it takes, we shall enjoy our time testing
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Bete.
Just remember that this is BETA and very early beta at that. Many projects would still be at Alpha in the state that ED is right now. I think we have Premium Beta for awhile.
Didn't beta used to mean all major game parts are active ?
Anyway I for one can't wait for tomorrows BETA....
Seriously, can't wait.
Gary.
Just remember that this is BETA and very early beta at that. Many projects would still be at Alpha in the state that ED is right now. I think we have Premium Beta for awhile.
Didn't beta used to mean all major game parts are active ?
Anyway I for one can't wait for tomorrows BETA....
Seriously, can't wait.
Gary.
Amen on all counts!
I don't think I've ever seen a project come together so smoothly and relatively quickly as this one.
I know a lot of you have been here since DB initially announced that there would be an Elite 4, but the progress I've seen since the first Alpha vids started coming out till now is staggering.
Premium Beta phase starts May the 30th (hopefully, it may slip).
Each phase will take as long as it has to.
Alpha backers get access to Beta builds first. This is hoped to only last a few hours. Except the first build which Alpha backers get exclusively for 2 weeks.
All the above info comes from FD and the only facts that I'm aware of.
Alpha 4 was basically the 2 week early beta so don't expect the Beta backers to have to wait another 2 weeks after the 30th of May (I clarified this with FD here ).
Each phase will take as long as it has to.
Alpha backers get access to Beta builds first. This is hoped to only last a few hours. Except the first build which Alpha backers get exclusively for 2 weeks.
All the above info comes from FD and the only facts that I'm aware of.
Alpha 4 was basically the 2 week early beta so don't expect the Beta backers to have to wait another 2 weeks after the 30th of May (I clarified this with FD here ).
You know... looking at what happened to SC today, I'm starting to see a bit of genius evolve on Elite's part.
They put out a date for which Premium Beta backers would gain access, although they never really promised any definite additions to Alpha 4.
So, worst case scenario: They release Alpha 4 to all the PB backers, let everyone in to stress test the current build... VOILA'! No promises broken.
If they release the Beta with any kind of updates/additions/bug fixes, they have, for all intents and purposes, over delivered.
Genius!
They put out a date for which Premium Beta backers would gain access, although they never really promised any definite additions to Alpha 4.
So, worst case scenario: They release Alpha 4 to all the PB backers, let everyone in to stress test the current build... VOILA'! No promises broken.
If they release the Beta with any kind of updates/additions/bug fixes, they have, for all intents and purposes, over delivered.
Genius!
I think that the premium beta and the standard beta are going to last until end of August
Michael Brookes
Game Director
