How much control do game testers have?

[Brazilianpeanutwar]

I was talking to my friend the other day about a story i once heard concerning metal gear solid 2 : sons of liberty.

Apparently one of the games designers (A woman,just stating facts) complained that snake was ugly and she didn't like his scruffy hair and beard ,this lead to the games designers introducing raiden (An effeminate pretty boy,pretty much the anti-snake) into the game.

(I could be wrong about all that because it was a long time ago since i've heard it)

But it got me thinking,how much control do games testers have?

Can they really influence a game that much? And do the games designers even take that much on board?

 

[Dublin Solo]

They can't influence a game a lot, but it also mostly depends on what they say it.

If a game tester says "I don't think this gameplay is right", his/her rant will probably go unnoticed and be labeled as "As designed, issue closed"

But I've seen a game tester opening an issue about a very annoying gameplay problem, that was initially dismissed, but finally being taken into account once he documented the thing, took a video showing the problem, and explained in detail why said gameplay was a pain in the ass.

Hope this helps!

 

[jowo96]

I was in the APB beta and they didn't seem to pay much attention to ideas, the focus was mainly on getting the game to work properly.

The story may be different for professional testers, according to valves developers commentary they take on board alot of the feedback and observations of their testers.

 

[sms_117b]

Depends, if enough people complain about the same thing some labels push dates back to accomodate, that's IF enough people but it's about 75%+ of the testers

 

[Brazilianpeanutwar]

Ah i see,thanks for the replies guys