Empire: Total War Beta Group

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/reply/702470

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Hi guys,

We are going to start an invitation-only Beta group, where selected members of the community will be able to try out future updates before release and feedback directly to the Empire: Total War team.

If you are interested in taking part in the Beta group, please send a PM to me with the subject line "Beta Group". Space is limited, so any additional information of previous support will help your application.

In order to take part in and stay in the Beta group we will need you to provide regular and constructive feedback on the updates. All information and content included in the Beta test is strictly confidential, so if invited, you will need to complete and return an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) to us.

Applications will be considered until 5pm on Friday 3rd April.

Thanks,

Mark O'Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

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I hope if they do this that the 'testers' dont use it as an excuse to flame

OMOFMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOGM

brb applying.

Why are you in a rush? It doesn't sound like much fun -unless your game is totally messed up at the momment.

The game was buggy so they released updates, the updates are buggy so they released hot fixes... finally they try beta testing...

Man they must have been behind schedule. Whoever was running their project/authorised its release at this time must have be having a hard time! :oops:

Trust me, I dont think I've wanted anything more for a long long time.

Sex is nothing compared to this.

I think I screwed up my application. Wrong title...:cry: If they look past that, I don't see why I should get it, I've done plently of closed beta testing under a NDA in my time.

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Originally Posted by Zerg

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/reply/702470



I hope if they do this that the 'testers' dont use it as an excuse to flame

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Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't beta testing something that is usually done before a software product is released to production?


:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4: <-- Sega management


:embarassed::dizzy2::clown::inquisitive::oops: <-- CA devs


:shame::no::thumbsdown::wall: <-- customers who paid for a copy of ETW

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We are going to start an invitation-only Beta group, where selected members of the community will be able to try out future updates before release and feedback directly to the Empire: Total War team...

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What part of that don't you understand.

I'm getting quite sick of you TBH.

I like the fact they posted it on the 1st of April.

Yeah, no one likes him, pevergreen.

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

I'm getting quite sick of you TBH.

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:kiss:

Not a personal attack here BPSR:TW, but sometimes its hard to figure out if you are making a valid argument/point or if you are just being a troll. Apparently some people think you are a troll but I am undecided at the moment on you. :inquisitive:

Beta testing is done after release too BeenPlayingSinceRTW. This is quite good policy especially since fixes can be made quickly available.

HOWEVER CA SHOULD BETTER GET MPERS FOR THE TACTICAL BATTLES AND NOT SPERS ONLY (THAT USUALLY HELP ON THAT SIDE OF THE GAME). There is also a SEVERE ISSUE OF POLITICS WITHIN BETA TEAMS - TAKE THEM ALL FROM ONE CLAN/FORUM, AND THE POINT OF VIEW BECOMES ONE SIDED, TAKE THEM FROM TOO MANY/RIVAL ONES AND THE WORK WILL LACK DIRECTION.

Lets hope that CA will choose wisely players that have the respect of community as a whole as well as the necessary skills to test as they did for the M2TW RETROFIT mod.

:bow:

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Originally Posted by Phog_of_War

Not a personal attack here BPSR:TW, but sometimes its hard to figure out if you are making a valid argument/point or if you are just being a troll. Apparently some people think you are a troll but I am undecided at the moment on you. :inquisitive:

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Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt.

I'm just making a valid point, which is that beta testing is supposed to happen before a software product ships. They (CA) should have done this type of thing before ever releasing the product and taking people's money for it.

Unless Pevergreen and TiberiusBeskar are affiliated with CA/Sega, I really don't see why my opinion should be of such great concern to them. The whole purpose of a message board is to see a variety of different points of view, and IMHO it is always suspect when certian individuals seem to want to stifle divergent points of view.

betatesting is done before any patch not just before the game release. they have just done it internaly before this

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Originally posted by BeenPlayingSinceRTW
I'm just making a valid point, which is that beta testing is supposed to happen before a software product ships. They (CA) should have done this type of thing before ever releasing the product and taking people's money for it.

Unless Pevergreen and TiberiusBeskar are affiliated with CA/Sega, I really don't see why my opinion should be of such great concern to them. The whole purpose of a message board is to see a variety of different points of view, and IMHO it is always suspect when certian individuals seem to want to stifle divergent points of view.

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Well they didnt exactly put their hands in peoples pockets to get the money out BeenPlayingSinceRTW. CA had a chronic problem with patches and patching policy that manifested most evidently in M2TW. Steam gives the opportunity to overcome these problems.

If you are asking for a game that has no bugs or has had extensive betatesting before release then TW simply isnt that kind of game anymore, and every one who plays since RTW should know that. If you are looking to put a consumers ethos into a mainstream video game release you are wasting your own time and effort. Better stick with less mainstream games that do provide support closely because their releases are smaller and more manageable and their fanbase smaller and more fragile.

CA/SEGA are doing alright for a mainstream/developer publisher - they have taken their fanbases demands into consideration in this release to the extend their position as a mainstream developer allows.

In short, in principle i agree with you in many points - i just think that they are somewhat misplaced relative to TW games.

:bow:

EDIT
As for patrons like pevergreen, they act like this because they are pet patrons - they dislike any against the grain infusion of opinion, because they cant see what is legitimate complain and what illegitimate banter - and not because they are CA affiliated. Just let them be.

interesting and not interesting....

Doing beta work for game could be fun but i'm an evil capitalist. I like to get something more than self gratification and online notoriety out of my work.

If at least they could give a t-shirt...

No offense intended, i've got lot of respect for people who agree to do this for free.

Maybe BPSR needs to do some beta testing with some Hooked on Phonics. Its Beta for NEW UPDATES not for the actual game release. Silly boy.:beam:

Tell you what I see:
- Evidence points to an unfinished product knowingly pushed out the door too early.
- The STEAM release was a fiasco due to a STEAM Client issue and that reflected poorly on CA
- The hot fix process has been a sad joke – fix one thing and break two more
- And now CA finally invites actual players to help them QA the fixes

Two approaches would have been very helpful up-front:
- Admitting on release day that some functionality was not fully implemented and that patches were in the offing
- Immediately inviting players to test the fixes

Bottom line = ETW I a huge black eye for CA and they really should have done much more to manage expectations.

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Originally Posted by gollum

As for patrons like pevergreen, they act like this because they are pet patrons - they dislike any against the grain infusion of opinion, because they cant see what is legitimate complain and what illegitimate banter - and not because they are CA affiliated. Just let them be.

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Though the user in question doesn't even have the game and makes countless topics and posts insulting it. They can't give a valid critical opinion of the subject since they never actually once played the game and only do so to cause trouble.

Saying there is trouble and what needs fixing is one thing, especially from a customer, but he isn't a customer. He is the person who comments about food at the restaurant saying it is bad, yet, has never tasted it or seen it, or any valid independent assumptions.

-runs off to apply-

I loves the beta testing!

Guys I know some of you are having problems with Empire total war and are not happy and I understand your need to voice your opinions about this. But there are plenty of other threads where this has happened.

I started this thread so people at the .org would know about it not to start another rant thread. Could you please not hijack this thread just to say what has already been said else where.

Thanks
Zerg

Is this a legitimate post or another hoax from a hacker. I did see the same post on Totalwar btw but it seems odd that CA would be using terms like 'betatestor'. That is sure to rile people up who still don't have the game working.

I remember being a patch betatester back in the old MTW days... yes the old one.

Was quite nice since we had a specific MP room (using the CA system, not Steam obviously) and we had daily contant with the devs about issues we found. And it included some of the best MPers I have had the pleasure to know.

Ahh the days... of sending one unit to it's death one at a time to test out stuff.

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Originally Posted by gollum

As for patrons like pevergreen, they act like this because they are pet patrons - they dislike any against the grain infusion of opinion, because they cant see what is legitimate complain and what illegitimate banter - and not because they are CA affiliated. Just let them be.

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Dear Sir,

You offend my honour! I demand satisfaction!

I defend this game because I like the game, and because I personally don't have any of the problems anyone else seems to get. Someone's gotta stick up for CA.

No more personal attacks please. :yes:

Its a good idea, no matter how much they test stuff, there's bound to be someone out there doing things they haven't thought of; also it gives them access to a far greater range of platforms & hardware configurations.

Probably worth considering that they'll want beta testers to check specific area's of the program.

They're releasing fast patches the draw back in that is sufficient testing, its a good solution for everyone. :yes:

:jawdrop:

I made a post over at .com...I feel faint. :laugh4:

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

:jawdrop:

I made a post over at .com...I feel faint. :laugh4:

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Welcome to clown college as I call it. Hope you make it on the team and can make a contribution but - you admit that you have few issues. It would be more helpful to enlist people who have issues.

Oh well, we will see what happens.

I just have one word for CA give us all the mod tools nedeed to modify every aspect of the game and remove al hardcoded limits, we'll fix the game for you:laugh4:no need to waste time on betatesting:2thumbsup:. Anyhow for the guys who are going to betatest good luck and make us proud:2thumbsup.

The main good part of this is, that -to my knowledge- this is the first time CA have done closed beta testing to the public. If it goes well, they may choose to utilise the community again, which would lead to possible beta testing of the next game, creating a less buggy launch? :grin2:

edit: yeah good point Kraxis, I read that post before, but I seem to have forgotten it by the time I made this post. Sorry!

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

The main good part of this is, that -to my knowledge- this is the first time CA have done closed beta testing to the public.

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Look up a bit...

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

The main good part of this is, that -to my knowledge- this is the first time CA have done closed beta testing to the public. If it goes well, they may choose to utilise the community again, which would lead to possible beta testing of the next game, creating a less buggy launch? :grin2:

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I would love to think that, but my gut feeling is that this is the start of the damage limitation excercise. "We know we did it wrong", "We opened up testing for the fanboyz". Some articles in the tame gaming press and all is forgiven and everything is set to sweep up on the ETW expansion.

CA are masters at this sort of marketing chicanary.

Ask yourselves this ... if ETW had flopped, do you think you would be getting any patches at all? I dont ...

Guys, this is every release since shogun...you'll get over it. My main gripe is naval landings (India gets very lonely)...I can live with no SLI and random crap.

Pevergreen said
"You offend my honour! I demand satisfaction!

I defend this game because I like the game, and because I personally don't have any of the problems anyone else seems to get. Someone's gotta stick up for CA.

No more personal attacks please"

After he tells some dude he finds him obnoxious.

I for one think your possibly the most annoying dude on these boards. Have a nice day.

Whats this, We're paying for a game in Beta still?

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Originally Posted by CookieRawr

Whats this, We're paying for a game in Beta still?

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Please... It's been answered within this very thread, at the least do everyone the favour of reading the previous posts.

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Originally Posted by Callahan9119

After he tells some dude he finds him obnoxious.

I for one think your possibly the most annoying dude on these boards. Have a nice day.

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:verycool:

I live to serve all believers.

I stay nice at least.:smash:

I've thrown my hat in the ring. It's a bit of a busman's holiday for me really, seeing as I'm a software tester in the real world. Dull software unfortunately.

That reminds me, better go to work. :whip:

I wouldent get too excited about this its nothing new, many people here at the org have beta tested patches in the past. Its boring :D

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Originally Posted by Swoosh So

I wouldent get too excited about this its nothing new, many people here at the org have beta tested patches in the past. Its boring :D

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really?

:inquisitive:

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Originally Posted by Kraxis

I remember being a patch betatester back in the old MTW days... yes the old one.

Was quite nice since we had a specific MP room (using the CA system, not Steam obviously) and we had daily contant with the devs about issues we found. And it included some of the best MPers I have had the pleasure to know.

Ahh the days... of sending one unit to it's death one at a time to test out stuff.

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Ah yeah Kraxis, those were the days. I even beta tested Shogun TW patches. :)

No time for beta testing anymore. Plus, I just don't care enough. Time for others to take up the 'often futile' mantle.

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Originally Posted by markaoliver

Ask yourselves this ... if ETW had flopped, do you think you would be getting any patches at all? I dont ...

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Isn't it a flop so far? They got a pop at launch due to heavy promotion to Valve's base of Steam users and pre-orders...

But since then, sales rate is below M2TW due to poor word of mouth. The sales profile of game that opens well and continues selling for the next 6 - 8 months is substantially higher than a game that opens big, but then has sales fall of a cliff. (Another clue: In the week after ETW launched, Amazon discounted it by 25% to avoid being stuck with a lot of unsold inventory - if the game had been selling to expectations, they would have kept the price up.)

A flop?

It broke U.K sales records, it continues to sell extremely well - and as far as I know, the sales figures have only been released for the first two weeks of March as of the 24th. E:TW is still top.

Honestly, you're making stuff up, and you seem to have an inflated sense of your own importance when you say things like 'word of mouth'.

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Originally Posted by Swoosh So

I wouldent get too excited about this its nothing new, many people here at the org have beta tested patches in the past. Its boring :D

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Yeah the new is that CA is finally starting something up after a 4 year break.

Boring? All the time time spent on dealing with a leak in the RTW beta group certainly made it "interesting" But yes apart from that there is not much fun involved in testing build after build.

VI was the best experience for me: only a few bugfixes to focus on, no stinking clan politics involved and even saving the day by discovering a new horrible bug ~D


CBR

I believe that it was exactly VI I was involved with... I remeber doing a lot of Chivalric MMA setups for killing vs knights. *yawn* But it was good.

Didnt they allow community members to test the MTW1 "Lancer" patch?

I remember you were in on that CBR, but maybe I'm wrong.

I dont come to these boards much anymore, but seeing your name makes me think back to good times from the "long long ago". Being laid off and playing MTW multiplayer for 18 hours a day in 2002, fighting AMP a dozen times a day and maybe winning once :Zzzz:

The community beta team dated back to the balancing of the MI patch. The same group (more or less) tested the MTW 1.1 patch. My first involvement was with testing the VI patch and it was that patch that fixed the cavalry swipe bug if that is what you mean by the "lancer" patch.

That was back in IIRC Sept/Oct 2003 so yeah a long time ago and when I still played MP. Time sure flies...


CBR