Open Beta


  • TF#1 - WHISPERER

    when begins the open-beta?


  • TF#7 - AMBASSADOR

    @Fireblast99

    You should read literally anything about the game.

    There is no open beta; the only way to play the game before release is to purchase a pre-release pack. You can also win a prealpha key through the Foundation but this will not give access to alpha or beta, or to the full game.

    You just missed the Kickstarter, but these packs will return for purchase on the site shortly!


  • TF#9 - FIRST AMBASSADOR

    Here the Roadmap
    Here the Roadmap


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @fibs said in Open Beta:

    @Fireblast99

    You should read literally anything about the game.

    There is no open beta; the only way to play the game before release is to purchase a pre-release pack. You can also win a prealpha key through the Foundation but this will not give access to alpha or beta, or to the full game.

    You just missed the Kickstarter, but these packs will return for purchase on the site shortly!

    Terminology aside, open beta may very well be the case - note that there was no kickstarter tier that included the game on release but did not include at least beta 2 access, so right now everyone who's pledged has beta access. The devs also said that once the kickstarter is over, pre-purchase will be made available here on the website and the tiers will be the same, so, still everyone who pre-orders the game also gets at least beta 2 access. If it stays that way by the time that beta 2 actually begins then it's pretty much open beta even if you don't name it as such.
    Actually right now I'd say that even the alphas are somewhat "open" because anyone could have (and probably soon will again be able to) join it by purchasing a high-tier on kickstarter or the website. Only the pre-alpha is truly "closed" in that sense.
    That being said, the devs indeed never said there will be an open beta so things may be different from what we know now, e.g. it may not be possible to join a currently-running phase, for instance if alpha 1 is currently running you can only join alpha 2. Another possibility is that the devs decide to stop accepting new people to certain early phases (e.g. because of server load), but I guess that by the time of beta 2 it's a very serious problem if there are still issues like that.

    Still let me remind you that even an open beta is still a beta - You get no warranty that everything will run smoothly and your progress may be wiped before the beta ends.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @nightcoder
    open beta implies that there is no need to purchase any early access. open beta implies it's free and.. open to everyone.


  • TF#7 - AMBASSADOR

    @nightcoder @Jetah

    As far as I'm concerned, the beta is neither open nor closed. It isn't open because it isn't free, and it isn't closed because it isn't invite-only or number-restricted. (The prealpha is thus a closed prealpha.)

    So I guess we'll call it a buy-in beta since that's what it is. Other than the Early Bird offers, there isn't a strict limit to how many people can get in, so long as they buy in before the offer is over.


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @jetah said in Open Beta:

    @nightcoder
    open beta implies that there is no need to purchase any early access. open beta implies it's free and.. open to everyone.

    Well the game (after release) is not going to be free either. According to the kickstarter it's gonna cost €30 (pay once). On the kickstarter you could have gotten it for €20, which also includes beta 2 access. The non-early-bird price was €25, which is probably the same as it's going to cost from now on on the website. If by the time the game enters beta 2 the game is still available on the website and costs no more than €30 and still includes the beta 2 access then how is it not open beta?


  • TF#10 - CONSUL

    @nightcoder said in Open Beta:

    @jetah said in Open Beta:

    @nightcoder
    open beta implies that there is no need to purchase any early access. open beta implies it's free and.. open to everyone.

    Well the game (after release) is not going to be free either. According to the kickstarter it's gonna cost €30 (pay once). On the kickstarter you could have gotten it for €20, which also includes beta 2 access. The non-early-bird price was €25, which is probably the same as it's going to cost from now on on the website. If by the time the game enters beta 2 the game is still available on the website and costs no more than €30 and still includes the beta 2 access then how is it not open beta?

    I don't think you know what open beta means....


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @sparky said in Open Beta:

    I don't think you know what open beta means....

    I think @FibS summarized it pretty well. The only thing I added is that I'd consider the last beta (aka beta 2) to be an open beta if -

    • By the time it launches it's still possible to join and start playing immediately.

    • Even for someone who joins beta 2 after it's live, the price is at most the price of the final release (i.e. it does not cost extra to join the last beta).

    If you consider open beta to be something else then please join the discussion.


  • TF#10 - CONSUL

    @nightcoder said in Open Beta:

    @sparky said in Open Beta:

    I don't think you know what open beta means....

    I think @FibS summarized it pretty well. The only thing I added is that I'd consider the last beta (aka beta 2) to be an open beta if -

    • By the time it launches it's still possible to join and start playing immediately.

    • Even for someone who joins beta 2 after it's live, the price is at most the price of the final release (i.e. it does not cost extra to join the last beta).

    If you consider open beta to be something else then please join the discussion.

    What you just said is like saying "Alpha 1 is open beta," since Alpha 1 and so is all the other test phrases are open to everyone too. So, you wrong on that pint too.

    Open beta is meaning that the beta phrase is FREE and open to everyone. All the testing phrase is open but not free. So, no there is no free open betas but you must pay which isn't even consider an open beta just buying in early on the game.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    it can't be "open beta" if you pay for entrance lol


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @sparky said in Open Beta:

    What you just said is like saying "Alpha 1 is open beta," since Alpha 1 and so is all the other test phrases are open to everyone too. So, you wrong on that pint too.

    Open beta is meaning that the beta phrase is FREE and open to everyone. All the testing phrase is open but not free. So, no there is no free open betas but you must pay which isn't even consider an open beta just buying in early on the game.

    Regarding the alpha - I did not say "it's open" by the book, I said that it's not truly "closed" because there's no hard limit on how many people can get in (that only applies to the pre-alpha). Call it any way you like, it's neither open nor closed. Well, at least for the alpha phases it's similar to close because the price is too high for most people.

    Regarding your claim about open beta being free - That may be the case for free to play games as well as subscription model but I have to disagree when it comes to pay once models. The way I see it you don't pay for the beta, you pay for the final game, and you also get beta 2 access without paying anything extra. In fact the final game is going to cost €30 while buying the game + beta 2 now costs €25 so the actual price of the beta access is €-5...


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    beta is waaaay far away from todays day
    thats why we should focus on supporting the game and getting the pre-alpha key so we can figure out how the frac can one use it without hurting his hand cuz its spiked!
    alt text


  • TF#10 - CONSUL

    @grofire said in Open Beta:

    it can't be "open beta" if you pay for entrance lol

    So true. @Nightcoder You need to brush up on open beta, since if you paying for entrance into beta then that isn't open beta. You paying for entrance, never have I
    had ever pay to get into open beta since open betas are free. Also, you wrong about B2P models alot of them had open beta before for free aka Dauntless. So, no you are wrong but keep trying if you want.

    Better yet, Black Ops 4 is having an open beta next month FOR FREE. So, if you paying for entrance for beta it isn't really an open beta since it isn't open to the entire public just the people who brought it. If you consider buying into beta was open then so is Alpha, and etc. So, just stop embrassing yourself @Nightcoder since you're wrong on all points.


  • TF#12 - PEOPLE'S HERALD

    @fibs @Nightcoder
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Open_and_closed_beta

    open beta is when they allow everyone in to 'test/play' the game to see if they want to buy it (unless it's a f2p game then it's more advertisement). closed beta is when you are selected from a pool or pay to enter it.

    it's like having an open bar at a wedding or a pay for drinks.


  • TF#3 - ENVOY

    @jetah said in Open Beta:

    @fibs @Nightcoder
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#Open_and_closed_beta

    open beta is when they allow everyone in to 'test/play' the game to see if they want to buy it (unless it's a f2p game then it's more advertisement). closed beta is when you are selected from a pool or pay to enter it.

    it's like having an open bar at a wedding or a pay for drinks.

    From the wiki page:

    Examples of a major public beta test include the following:
    Early customers purchased a "pioneer edition" of the WordVision word processor for the IBM PC for $49.95. In 1984, Stephen Manes wrote that "in a brilliant marketing coup, Bruce and James Program Publishers managed to get people to pay for the privilege of testing the product."[9]

    So according to this, open beta does not have to be free at all.
    I think that there's no absolute truth here and that different people may have different definitions of "open" vs "closed" beta. I actually also define a third "semi-open" kind. The way I see it -

    • As far as free to play games are considered, it's only considered open beta if it's free. For paid games (especially pay once) I consider it to be open beta if the beta access is already included in the retail game price, i.e. everyone who pre-orders the final game also gets beta access and does not have to pay extra.
    • Semi-open is (in my opinion) when you need to pay extra to join the beta, but other than that there's nothing that keeps you from joining.
    • Closed is when the testers are a closed group, i.e. a random person cannot join no matter how much s/he wants or when the extra price is high enough for most people to pass, therefore limiting the number of beta testers to a relatively few.

    So according to these definitions I'd consider the pre-alpha and alpha 1 to be "closed", because pre-alpha is a closed group decided by the devs and alpha 1 costs €200, more than most people are willing to pay. Alpha 2 may also fall into that category (costs €100).
    Beta 1 would be "semi-open", since it costs €60. It's not incredibly steep but still twice the price of the retail game (€30).
    Beta 2 according to this definition is open because it comes at no extra charge (right now it's actually €5 cheaper) and that includes the retail copy so you don't pay anything for the beta itself and most importantly - everyone who pre-orders the game has access to beta 2, there's no way of pre-ordering the retail game without being able to join the beta.

    Of course, I will say that it can change, e.g. if the devs decide that beta access is only sold until a certain point in time or if the price climbs so it's not possible to join the currently-running beta without paying extra (over the retail price).


Log in to reply
 

Copyright © 2023 Dynamight Studios Srl | Fractured