Our feelings about Beta Invite complaints

Hello Chris,

It makes me happy that you guys are so open to criticism, means none of us is wasting time being here.

Now on the beta invites right?

First thing I would like to point out is that at no point you should remove the counter in the front page, not only it will reduce the website's traffic, but would cause a lot of backlash. Even if you have a reason to do it ("so we can use those keys in a contest"), it will get you nothing but hate.

How to do it then:

-> As you can see are in completely different time zones, so every post takes a while to be responded. "Why is this important?" you may ask, well, you mentioned the contest idea, which I think is the right way to go at it, but sadly it's gonna cost you one night of sleep, just so you can reach people from all over the world. I suggest the contests to be done in sets of 2(Europe and US primetime) or 3 if you have a lot of players from Asia+oceanic

-> Methods

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=120645
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=119898


These are 2 types of scavenge hunts, requiring game knowledge and dedication, some would require the participant to take a picture with a fast food employee and a sign with his name and the game.

You can also use screenshots to get feedback, take 20, or a video and make a thread looking for art/gameplay input. best replies get keys.

-> The keys for the contest should be the ones from twitter/4chan/facebook, and use those websites to bring people here instead. Make an announcement there like: "at 10pm pst we will release a short gameplay video of a future build, come to this link to see it and reply on our forums, most helpful entries will win beta keys".

You want people to be part of the community, not part of the i-need-beta-club. In the end you want everyone to use this website, and not discuss the game somewhere else, a lot of games suffer from this.

When people see that the best way to get into the game, is to be part of the community, the overall post quality should increase, and people that follow the game will be leaps and bounds ahead of the others, causing less frustration

-> you can also link quality streamers on twitter/facebook with a schedule and agree with the broadcaster to release a key on justin.tv's chat to a trivia winner (based on the part he just played). This gets people to watch the game, and get hyped in a positive way.

There are other things you could do, but let's be honest here, you just don't have the mailing list yet. So buckle up as this will be a rough one for a while, keep at it and the beta for your next game will be much easier.

"

Corpsepaint wrote:

So bassicaly the reason you can't let everyone in is because of to many feedback and duplicate posts about bugs and stuff?

Somehow I don't believe you.You are generating hype that's all what this is about.

If that was the issue you could just allow a selected few testers to post on the bug section of the forum.

Problem solved everyone gets in end of story.

But it's not about that it's about marketing strategies :)

So please dude be honest don't turn out to be like all the other developers.(moneeeey MOOOONEEEEEY) I really was exited to see an indie team of gamers that are not like all the greedy dudes that plague the gaming industry , but now I'm starting to have doubts about your "ethical" views regarding the gaming industry.

I cant get it!! How can you say something like that!!! I would like to see you work hard for so many years on a game and then give it for free. We should be thankful for companys like this one and help them as much as we can and spread the news about the Path of Exile to everyone.

Why I want the beta key is becouse I know that this game is going to be enormous and I would be proud to know that I help them to notice and fix something in it and make it even better...

/sadface

I think it just goes to show what it always has, people are greedy. And that's not say they would even be good beta testers, because it seems to me their not worried about helping development as much getting their shiny star and playing the game. It a pretty common theme these days among online gaming. My advice would be sit back play the waiting game, which I thought the timer was an awesome idea, it actually gives you the sense that people are getting access as opposed to sign up never get an invite. Till then I've been waiting since early Feb to get a crack at this game a few more months isn't going to kill me.

"

GreenMachine wrote:

I can guarantee most of active users on this site would be more useful than the person who made an account 10 months ago and never logged in since.

Is the premise of your argument that because you're an active member of the community who has time and will to log in and/or post every day, you must be a better tester? If so, I must disagree.

Just because someone doesn't log in, or even just found out about the game doesn't mean that they won't be a good tester. They could have years of software development or QA experience, which can be quite valuable. They could also have a passion for games of many types and be ables to provide valuable feedback because of that. Finally, the perspective of someone with very little background in the game and their first impression is a highly valuable asset to the developers.

It sounds like the system is working, the developers are getting the feedback they need and most keys are being redeemed, so the system is working. In the long run we'll have a better game because of it.

I haven't got a key yet but I don't think that you guys have made any wrong decisions regarding this process. You guys are doing an excellent job. Keep it up.

I will still be paciently waiting for when i get my chance to play and help GGG out, as everyone else should.

"

a) Many/most of the "inactive" people do still check the forum while not logged in. Our analytics tracks what users return with the same IP/browser.

well ... since many people are using routers ... this IP based solution might be easy, but not perfect ...

you even have the "remember be" marker ... its really as easy as it could be to log in ><

Thx for your information Chris.

I just hope that ppl comes in that want to actively help, and not just trying out and continue with WoW..

"

Chris wrote:

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facehead wrote:

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Bailong wrote:

The main problem is, that more and more "inactive guys" get keys. If they want to access the beta as well, whats so hard about looking into the forum again?

This is actually a good point and I hope Chris (or someone else from GGG) reads it. Lurkers still actively interested in Beta aren't going to have a hard time logging in if they're told they need to.

I'd also be interested in hearing how many of the 1250 keys are actually being used.

a) Many/most of the "inactive" people do still check the forum while not logged in. Our analytics tracks what users return with the same IP/browser.

b) We vary the rate of the timer based on how many people are playing. If keys go out to real inactive people, then we can keep the timer at a fast speed for longer (or speed it up). There has been huge uptake of the keys so far though, which is why we slowed it down a little.

"

treader wrote:

The solution is simple:

Get rid of the timer. Invite people under wraps from the public. All this rage is because of the timer in your front page. I am surprised a company such as GGG havent figured that out yet.

OR

Keep the timer but make the name is anonymous something like Upcoming Random = RXXX (name was Rich) then noone can check it and say hey this guy dont deserve in.

I definitely see what you mean, but we wanted to be up-front and transparent with how the process worked. We wanted to give more information to the community rather than upset them.

Easy fix. Make it so you cannot view their profile. Making it like CXXXX (for my name example) is pointless because the whole point of the timer showing peoples names is to know when you are about to get a beta key.

You could make the names unclickable and yes i know you could just search the user up but 50% of the people wont do that. Its just easy to click the name view the players join date and post count and then go *()&$#(A^#$A^*(@^#*(&^@#^%!^@&. If you cannot click there goes half the spam on the forums cause only half the people will take the time to do a search for every person on the timer.

I haven't received a key, and even though I am frustrated like many others, people need to realize that this is a process and everyone will get in eventually.

Yes it is unfortunate not to have copy pasted keys in time, or didn't get selected on the why you want to play the beta give aways on twitter/forums.

But like Chris has stated before, the longer the wait, the more content there will be available and a more completed game.