Minimum number of posts for closed beta access? - Page 3

o_sureshot · 07-17-2006, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3-

From previous playtesting ive monitored, those points do not really come into effect. You need people with different sorts of connections to see how well it plays in different conditions, such as having a concing 56ker lag across the map to see how the sentrys react. As for the hardware, you need a wide range of hardware ranging from the best of the best, to the poor min spec HL2 playing machine. From the playtesters ive seen in II, the ones without playtesting experience are just as good as the people who have playtested before; they just need to know some ground rules and what to watch out for.

Yeah, that's also true. I did some testing of PC game stuff (won't bother plugging the company) and we used a broad range of machines to test on, in fact, mainly stuff at the lower end to see what screwed up. This included different OSes, driver combinations and peripherals. Obviously the FF team aren't doing the engine from scratch or anything, but it's still important to cater for both ends of the spectrum in the design process. Home testing on people's own connections was definitely something which went on too.

o_tennovan · 07-17-2006, 01:27 PM

Let the brown-nosing begin.

o_nodnarb · 07-17-2006, 01:33 PM

I'm first!! haha

o_atari · 07-17-2006, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C3-

From previous playtesting ive monitored, those points do not really come into effect. You need people with different sorts of connections to see how well it plays in different conditions, such as having a concing 56ker lag across the map to see how the sentrys react. As for the hardware, you need a wide range of hardware ranging from the best of the best, to the poor min spec HL2 playing machine. From the playtesters ive seen in II, the ones without playtesting experience are just as good as the people who have playtested before; they just need to know some ground rules and what to watch out for.

I'm not sure they'll be looking for (m)any 56k connections, it's 2006 - if you're gaming on 56k, it's gonna cost the devs mucho money posting out the mod on CD/DVD, yet alone each change. It's safe to assume that if you do have a 56k, you aren't gonna get much out of it. Besides, FF will be using the HL2 netcode, which has already been tested to some degree.

I agree with you on the hardware specs, I didn't mean you need to have the best hardware out there, but having the hardware to at least play HL2 (rather than HL1/TFC) is gonna be a requirement imo.

o_groovyf · 07-17-2006, 01:42 PM

Large post counts do not a forum contributor make

o_sensai · 07-17-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groovyf

Large post counts do not a forum contributor make

thank you, yoda.

o_ohcanep · 07-17-2006, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nagual678

A good thing would also be having people completely oblivious to what team fortress is..

True... just find the trustworthy ones.

Circuitous · 07-17-2006, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jiggles

The minimum post count is 42,000.

A-he-hem.

o_soulcutter · 07-17-2006, 04:41 PM

Rofl circ.

schtoofa · 07-17-2006, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Circuitous

A-he-hem.

Still want me to fix your post count back to what it was? ;D

Circuitous · 07-17-2006, 05:05 PM

Haha. So long as you're not usin' it to get money out of me I don't really care either way.

o_[jif]timmay! · 07-17-2006, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silencer

ive been involved with the forum for a couple months but never really got into posting because of all the flaming that was going on. I really dont enjoy hearing the smart ass remarks, so i just read posts and kept up to date with the mod.

Yep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by silencer

i know of a few ppl here that have been looking at this forum for a while now and only have a couple posts.

Or less.

o_sensai · 07-17-2006, 05:43 PM

I say we rate people on quality over quantity. I'm pretty sure that following the dev postings, my posts have the highest quality of them all. I mean, who else brought you the wips and leaked images to the forums?! Who has the L7 SG Bitching Power? I'm pretty sure that counts for something and puts me at the top of the list.

o_tu! · 07-17-2006, 07:05 PM

i nominate phish.

o_anshinritsumai · 07-17-2006, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atari

When anyone recruits (be it a game beta-test of a full-time job), you have the essential basics:

Good communication
Team player
Trustworthy
Mature
Reliable

Then you have the specifics for remote beta-testing a game…

Computer literate
Time
Good connection
Hardware to play the game
Experience in play-testing (a bonus?)

Then you have the specifics for FF…

Active member of the FF community
Experience with another fortress mod or online gamer new to fortress mods

I don’t think a high post-count will have any impact on your chances of beta-testing (unless they’ve been valuable contributions).

Just my 2p

I agree with this by far.

**mervaka** · 07-17-2006, 07:19 PM

i agree on every count now apart from "good connection"

there still needs to be a variety of different connections, in a variety of different countries

o_atari · 07-17-2006, 07:52 PM

So how low do you go with regards to the connection as we approach the end of 2006?

8mb? 4mb? 2mb? 1mb? 512k? 128k ISDN? 56k? 33k? Wireless? satellite? 2 tin cans and string?

How would Mr.56k get the mod? GoZilla?! for a couple of weeks? Snail mail? What about all the updates etc?

imo it's a step backwards testing for anything less than ISDN/512k these days, but then I'm not a developer, I just really don't see the point.

o_whuh? · 07-17-2006, 08:19 PM

how about instead of kissing ass we all post screens of us "owning" in tfc so it looks like we are more qualified to beta test.

Ill start with just a snippet:

o_the russian · 07-17-2006, 08:22 PM

From my honest experience there exists no true beta tester profile outside of catering to minimal specs. The truth about testing is that the guy who does not know what he's doing is more likely to think of something totaly irrational, stupid, and off-the-wall that will break something for sure. The experienced tester is honed on to what were bugs in other programs that he went through, so he's going into it with expectations that might never play out and he'll never know. The conclusion being that you'll want individuals from both camps.

The only use I see for using post count as a gauge is to reward commitment, albeit, like others have said, it wont draw the difference between quality and quantity. Although, we can infer that commitment could make up for the lack of one or the other in the chance encounter that you'll need ppl so stick through weeks of buggy code and crashes-a-plenty. A lesson learned.

Lastly lets not forget the all important stress-test as well, else we end up like EverQuest. Theres something to be said about a server with 32 ppl left runing for 12 hours straight... you sure see any differences in class balance quick when half the red team are snipers and the other half engys. In many ways it works like a centerfuge, weeding out class differences by weight, or in this case power.

At Q4F we went with mandatory testing days / times and specific servers. I dont know how FF plans to execute theirs but I'm sure they'll have a specific set proportion for when/where to do some hard monitoring.

o_ihmhi · 07-17-2006, 09:00 PM

High postcount = people who probably won't shut up in Pubchat.

Think about that before you hand them out based on postcounts. d:

Please give qbaler a nod. He is one of the few people who has actually given me a run for my money playing D against him and he probably will cry at night hugging his pillow (shaped like an ammo bag) if he does not get in the beta. =/

07-17-2006, 05:05 PM	#51
Circuitous Useless Retired FF Staff Join Date: Jun 2005 Class/Position: D Soldier, O Scout Gametype: AvD Posts Rated Helpful 9 Times	Haha. So long as you're not usin' it to get money out of me I don't really care either way. __________________ Look at all those dead links.

07-17-2006, 07:19 PM	#56
mervaka A Very Sound Guy! Fortress Forever Staff Join Date: May 2005 Location: UK Posts Rated Helpful 15 Times	i agree on every count now apart from "good connection" there still needs to be a variety of different connections, in a variety of different countries __________________ Support FF:

07-17-2006, 01:27 PM	#42
o_tennovan Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Texas Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Let the brown-nosing begin.

07-17-2006, 01:33 PM	#43
o_nodnarb Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Austin, Texas Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	I'm first!! haha

07-17-2006, 01:42 PM	#45
o_groovyf Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Halifax, UK Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Large post counts do not a forum contributor make

07-17-2006, 04:41 PM	#49
o_soulcutter Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ohio Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	Rofl circ.

07-17-2006, 05:43 PM	#53
o_sensai Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	I say we rate people on quality over quantity. I'm pretty sure that following the dev postings, my posts have the highest quality of them all. I mean, who else brought you the wips and leaked images to the forums?! Who has the L7 SG Bitching Power? I'm pretty sure that counts for something and puts me at the top of the list.

07-17-2006, 07:05 PM	#54
o_tu! Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	i nominate phish.

07-17-2006, 07:52 PM	#57
o_atari Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Somerset, UK Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	So how low do you go with regards to the connection as we approach the end of 2006? 8mb? 4mb? 2mb? 1mb? 512k? 128k ISDN? 56k? 33k? Wireless? satellite? 2 tin cans and string? How would Mr.56k get the mod? GoZilla?! for a couple of weeks? Snail mail? What about all the updates etc? imo it's a step backwards testing for anything less than ISDN/512k these days, but then I'm not a developer, I just really don't see the point.

07-17-2006, 08:19 PM	#58
o_whuh? Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	how about instead of kissing ass we all post screens of us "owning" in tfc so it looks like we are more qualified to beta test. Ill start with just a snippet:

07-17-2006, 08:22 PM	#59
o_the russian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Buffalo, NY Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	From my honest experience there exists no true beta tester profile outside of catering to minimal specs. The truth about testing is that the guy who does not know what he's doing is more likely to think of something totaly irrational, stupid, and off-the-wall that will break something for sure. The experienced tester is honed on to what were bugs in other programs that he went through, so he's going into it with expectations that might never play out and he'll never know. The conclusion being that you'll want individuals from both camps. The only use I see for using post count as a gauge is to reward commitment, albeit, like others have said, it wont draw the difference between quality and quantity. Although, we can infer that commitment could make up for the lack of one or the other in the chance encounter that you'll need ppl so stick through weeks of buggy code and crashes-a-plenty. A lesson learned. Lastly lets not forget the all important stress-test as well, else we end up like EverQuest. Theres something to be said about a server with 32 ppl left runing for 12 hours straight... you sure see any differences in class balance quick when half the red team are snipers and the other half engys. In many ways it works like a centerfuge, weeding out class differences by weight, or in this case power. At Q4F we went with mandatory testing days / times and specific servers. I dont know how FF plans to execute theirs but I'm sure they'll have a specific set proportion for when/where to do some hard monitoring.

07-17-2006, 09:00 PM	#60
o_ihmhi Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Newark, NJ Posts Rated Helpful 0 Times	High postcount = people who probably won't shut up in Pubchat. Think about that before you hand them out based on postcounts. d: Please give qbaler a nod. He is one of the few people who has actually given me a run for my money playing D against him and he probably will cry at night hugging his pillow (shaped like an ammo bag) if he does not get in the beta. =/

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