Question of the Day, May 14, 2010

[Starke]

I'm not sure if betas ruin the game experience.
But they should definitely be kept away from the other fish. And mirrors, for that matter.

Well played.

Anyway, I know I've said this before, but the Guildwars beta was fantastic, then the Korean betas happened. The game got retuned for that group, and the end product was... while not unplayable, hard as hell.

I basically never went back.

 

[Stu1701]

If it's just a multiplayer beta then no, but beta testing for story based content ruins part of the game for me a little bit because I've already played parts of it during beta.

 

[the_tramp]

I voted yes, but I consider playing a Beta as a starting of myself playing the end product so I'm sort of in the middle.

 

[Aenir]

No. See: Starcraft 2.

 

[theSovietConnection]

I can't really answer, because my answer isn't up there. I think it can spoil a game, depending on how they do it. If you just let people play a free-for-all style match as opposed to story, it doesn't. However, if you give them a level to play, it can spoil a story.

 

[Firia]

I have NO idea. I'd have to play a beta to know.

 

[untitledcause]

I may be different than everyone else, but I cannot even watch movie trailers for fear that the overall experience will be ruined. I believe that Betas draw out certain aspects of the games that should be avoided. I have come to a point in my gaming career where I want nothing spoiled...even small coverage of games. It's not worth sacrificing the end journey just to test drive the game. For games like Halo: Reach or even WoW Cataclysm I don't want to see anything about the game before I jump in feet first. It feels much more satisfying to have no preconceptions.

There is no doubt that it improves the overall quality of the game if the developer takes to heart the criticism, but herein lies another problem of most Betas...no built in feedback system. Most Betas require that you 'go online and bring your thoughts directly to the developer'. But that's an unnecessary step to the Beta experience. Why not just send your thoughts and concerns, along with glitch reports from within the game itself? I mean, we no longer live in the Stone Age people. We have access to this powerful little thing called the internet. Combine that with knowledge and it's quite a powerful thing.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

I haven't played a beta that I got to know everything well enough to spoil the game. Also, the games I've been in beta for, I've purchased.

 

[Nouw]

It could save you from buying a game you don't want but usually Betas don't spoil the story or the gameplay. Unless its a first from a franchise. Even so

 

[Brad Shepard]

I would say no, think about it, Betas are used to fix the problems the game has right? like bad controls, OP weapons (Im looking at you Sticky Grenade Launcher... curves around corners... damnit) or just bad gametypes.

I will say what i like about the Reach Beta is the part where you can get paired up with like minded players.

 

[YurdleTheTurtle]

Depends on the game. It is a bit of a spoiler if it's a single player game, but for multiplayer games it's not much of a spoiler, especially when it is used to test out balancing rather than to give players a demo.

I'm currently playing the Starcraft 2 beta and there's still a ton of content that is unavailable (campaign, challenge modes, map publishing (aka custom map sharing), 3v3, 4v4, a ton of Bnet features, a lot of other minor multiplayer features, etc.) They're doing the beta to test out balance and a couple of features, but obviously a lot of other content is being saved for release.

 

[Ironsouled]

single player beta testing... meh. Muliplayer, good. Simple as that. Multiplayer you don't ruin the entire story line, because more likely your dicking around with quests and talking to people. Single player... well you played the game without playing the game.
Oh, damn. I lost the game D:

 

[Yureina]

I wouldn't want to mess with a beta, if only because it could spoil a game for me when I had to play through it again. But... I've never gotten into a beta, so I really wouldn't know how they go exactly. They never invite me.

 

[e2density]

Nah, most multiplayer games (the majority of betas) don't have too deep of a storyline.

 

[iLikeHippos]

If I participate in a beta, I'd play it to observe flaws/goodies in my liking.

And afterwards report what I thought of it.

Because beta games aren't for enjoyment... Not for me anyhow.

But than again, how much can WoW spoil? Really?
It all gets blend anyhow, like a purview.

 

[teisjm]

I'd say no, but i guess it varries from game to game... A multiplayer game liek WoW, or in my case HoN doesn't get spoiled cause teh game is mainly bout the gameplay, so i guess it would be the same for almost any multiplayer game/gamemode, since they're meant to be replayed over and over.
Dunno if i'd care to pick up a copy of a single player game, if i'd already completed a more or less close to final beta though, cause it would be the same game just with fewer bugs.

 

[DoW Lowen]

I would much prefer an option that says

"No, because if the game is full of horrendous issues than we can fix it, hence the purpose of the beta. MW2 - Q.E.D."