Getting into Beta won't be easy!

#0 - April 29, 2010, 2:13 a.m.

Yeah, I said it. Getting into beta won't be as easy as you think there Kiddies. We all know how crucial the beta is; where Blizzard tries to gather as many serious gamers as they can to help this expansion succeed. Along with the crying, complaining, and your obvious flame threads about, "This is OP!" or "No, that's OP!"; It's a common part of beta, but if it can be cut down to those who really care about the game, and those who don't, than Blizzard will have an easier job and less confusion on their behalf. So, I'd thought I would some helpful tips on how to get into beta, for those who really want to test it, and to help Blizzard too.

1) Be at least 18+
I'm going to make a lot of Alliance angry by this, but you should be 18+ for trying out beta. No offense, it's just that they don't want someone that doesn't really know how to spell or may not be able to understand in-game mechanics, like someone who is older and can grasp things easier, like the new talent mastery system.

2) Have a good computer
Quite obvious. ALOT of people are going to be in beta and some people's computers just might not handle the sheer awesomeness and amount of people in beta. If your upgrading your computer than it should also help increase your chances, but if your not planning on having a computer in tiptop shape, than just stick with something else.

3) Have a Level 80
Blizzard doesn't necessarily want someone with low level characters. They want someone with an 80 or two to be able to just straight into Mt. Hyjal and Echo Isles, along with the new raids, and give immediate feedback about the design, quests, and even NPC's. Also, they need high level people to try high level talents, gear, etc.

4) No Trade Trolls!
*cough cough*. I doubt anyone wants to deal with trolls when they're looking for people to go raid or PvP in Org or SW. So just make it easier on people if you a trade chat troll and just stick to those live servers.

5) Have a degree in Gaming
Hmm? A degree? In gaming? Yes! Blizzard obviously wants people who have worked in the field of gaming and know a thing or two about how betas are and testing work. But just because you don't have a degree in gaming doesn't mean you won't get in. Blizzard absolutely wants average joes like you and me in beta too, because that's who they're making this game for; just us everyday people. If they fail to make a game that everyone doesn't like, than it defeats the purpose of even having a beta.

6) Reporting
Not like reporting someone for breaking rules, but someone who will be able to make a detailed report about bugs, glitches, or in-game balancing. This is the most CRITICAL PART OF THE BETA TESTING! Sorry for the caps, but it is! Blizzard just doesn't have betas for people to enjoy; They need people to help, because everything that goes unbalanced will be another thread QQing about it.

7) Know Zarhym
Not just his mind, but his heart.

I hope these tips help you understand the importance of the Cataclysm beta, and the fact that Blizzard needs people who are willing to help them because they have a passion for this game. Blizzard wants to see this expansion do well and to spread to everyone's computer, like a virus. (As if it already hasn't) Thank you, and good luck in beta!

Zarhym

#3 - April 29, 2010, 2:19 a.m.

I like your tips and think you've laid out some good food for thought regarding the Cataclysm beta. There's one important point you left out though which is almost always helpful:

7) Know Zarhym
Not just his mind, but his heart.

Zarhym

#14 - April 29, 2010, 2:24 a.m.

Q u o t e:
I adore how you have fragments in your topics and then preach to ME about grammar and spelling. Oh and that you're asking for people to at least be level 80 when you yourself are posting on a 68. Then there's the problem of, oh I don't know 70% of this expansion being for lowbies.

That's actually a good point too. Having or not having a level 80 character likely won't affect your chances at all (the same goes for a degree in gaming and your age).

We're going to push to get as many people into our beta test as possible to keep a solid concurrency on however many realms we decide to release for testing purposes.

Zarhym

#34 - April 29, 2010, 2:40 a.m.

Q u o t e:
they do want to have a good mixture I think so that they can be positive that bugs are on their end and not ours. This way they can test on a wide array of computers.

It's true. We like analyzing the performance on a variety of machines... not that I'm trying to refute every point of the original post. They're good general guidelines, particularly as they pertain to conduct and reporting bugs/providing quality feedback.

Q u o t e:

Just out of curiosity how many people are you guys planning to take into the beta? Or you still haven't decided on a final number? Since you've got such a large amount of content at various levels i assume your going to need a rather large number.

We don't have a set number. This is why we usually do invites in waves throughout the testing period. If we invite thousands of players right off the bat, inevitably concurrency drops over time since players have varying degrees of interest in participating in the beta process. Those are the times when we continue to invite new players. We'd only stop sending out keys for a bit if we started seeing large queues to log into the realms.

Zarhym

#45 - April 29, 2010, 2:53 a.m.

Q u o t e:

Both, my friends are convinced that the stuff is already ready to go aside from fine-tuning, everything else is just PR

I don't think that, so we made a bet about it

It's a lot more than fine tuning. The feedback and bug reporting interface features aren't just there to make testers feel like they're contributing. ;)

Zarhym

#50 - April 29, 2010, 2:59 a.m.

Q u o t e:

Hmm.. how does one go about doing this? Something tells me this might be tougher than a 25-man Lich King fight on hard mode :-D

There seems to be an awful lot of commotion going on (at least on fan sites) right now over the activation of the PTR copy feature (or semi-activation) and a lot of folks think the beta is nigh. Care to offer any cryptic hints to ratchet up the excitement even more?

What if my cryptic hints dispelled excitement? Something was being tested internally which required turning on character copies. In layman's terms, there is only one on/off switch for the testing being done and that activated character copies. It was intentional, but not necessarily useful for you to discover.

Was that uninformative and anticlimactic enough? :p

Zarhym

#79 - April 29, 2010, 4:15 a.m.

Q u o t e:
One thing that certainly won't help - trying to kiss up to Blizzard.

Everything in this post is wrong. :p

Zarhym

#88 - April 29, 2010, 4:27 a.m.

Q u o t e:

Ohh I get it, ignore my post. It's cuz im a feral isnt it? Admit it, you hate cats. You put them in pillowcases, hang them from your office window and light them on fire during your lunch break! You monster.

Hey, my cat is 12 years old. His life is sustained purely by my love at this point.