If they can play through the story start to finish, it's a beta. Anything before that is alpha.
Game companies love to play loose with those terms, especially when they ask players to "beta test" their game, even though you're mostly playing a release candidate.
I'd be surprised if Anthem weren't at beta by now.
I mean, players will have their hands on part of it in 2.5 months, and the full thing in less than 3. I sure hope they'd be seeing substantial progress by now.
As a layperson consumer, I've always associated 'beta' with something end users might get their hand on, however incorrect that might be. Going back decades to beta tests of elements (ME3's multiplayer), stress tests, and old school 'betas' with an early act, zone, map, whatever. Diablo 2's was fun, and really whetted my appetite for the whole thing.
Of course, it also seems to be academic more than anything. It goes into the wild in ~2.5 months in Demo form, and full release to some players a few weeks after that. Given it needing to be online to be played, I guess a day one patch doesn't mean it needs to be at 100% ready status even on the day it 'goes gold' and they start prepping for physical distribution, but I'd agree that I do hope they're progressing swiftly in these last few months to polish things up.
Given that it has allegedly been in development for nearly 7 years (apparently work began immediately after ME3 shipped) by the time players get their hands on it, I do hope that any remaining polish tidies up those snags in short order, but it won't shock me if they're crunching until it's out (nor would surprise showstoppers being found quickly once it's in the hands of millions, necessitating an immediate hotfix or ten surprise me either).
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
I mean, players will have their hands on part of it in 2.5 months, and the full thing in less than 3. I sure hope they'd be seeing substantial progress by now.
As a layperson consumer, I've always associated 'beta' with something end users might get their hand on, however incorrect that might be. Going back decades to beta tests of elements (ME3's multiplayer), stress tests, and old school 'betas' with an early act, zone, map, whatever. Diablo 2's was fun, and really whetted my appetite for the whole thing.
Of course, it also seems to be academic more than anything. It goes into the wild in ~2.5 months in Demo form, and full release to some players a few weeks after that. Given it needing to be online to be played, I guess a day one patch doesn't mean it needs to be at 100% ready status even on the day it 'goes gold' and they start prepping for physical distribution, but I'd agree that I do hope they're progressing swiftly in these last few months to polish things up.
Given that it has allegedly been in development for nearly 7 years (apparently work began immediately after ME3 shipped) by the time players get their hands on it, I do hope that any remaining polish tidies up those snags in short order, but it won't shock me if they're crunching until it's out (nor would surprise showstoppers being found quickly once it's in the hands of millions, necessitating an immediate hotfix or ten surprise me either).
Alpha = game actively in development, content being added, by far the longest stage of development
Beta = content complete, bug fixing, UI finalization, not nearly as long of a stage of development (unless there are massive amounts of bugs (or you're Bethesda and just skip the bug testing phase))
Anthem is definitely still in Alpha if it has debug text like {Press RT To launch meteors or something}
My main impression from the gameplay after like 10 minutes is that the guns sound anemic and don't seem to have any punchy feel to them, although the second is harder to tell from just watching gameplay so I can't be sure on that part.
Audio-wise it's all put-put-put-put-put-put though.
I mean, it's an alpha build. Consider pretty much everything to be placeholder in some way.
Maybe. Maybe not. It's only months from release at this point and this is the build they wanted to showcase. There's as much reason to suspect some of these things are finalized already as their is to suspect they are not.
"Press RT to launch a bunch of meteors or something."
I'm not trying to convince you or anything, but it's a build with that kind of debug messaging, that's audio mixed to have people talking over it. That shit is a build that's got someone at BioWare HQ just muttering to herself "omgdon'tcrashdon'tcrashomgit'snotcrashingomgdon'tcrash" for sure.
It sounded and looked the same in all the previous gameplay footage too. That's the way the game sounds/looks right now as far as anything we've seen.
Now maybe it's gonna change but it's just as likely it won't since we have nothing on which to judge that issue in either direction.
I was all about the Falcon. Damn was that a great gun.
Andromeda ruined it.
0
Options
AegisFear My DanceOvershot Toronto, Landed in OttawaRegistered Userregular
Dev stream incoming in less than 6 minutes on twitch. Supposedly going to be covering "A little of Fort Tarsis, changes to the Lost Arcanist mission, and Interceptor perspective".
Also, note that we have until December 3rd to sign up. There some language about 'first come, first served' that might drive people to hammer the site for hours, but as someone who has been poking at it for 8 hours now, to varying degrees of progress (but not completion), their infrastructure is currently wanged.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
If what I'm reading on Reddit is true (which references Twitter from a Bioware employee), the email, which includes a link to sign up with and a notice to share it with a few friends and family, was not actually tied to our accounts/email addresses.
So when some guy got it and posted it on Reddit, which was then picked up by gaming news agencies, it wasn't just the people who had signed up before to be a part of the early testing.
Essentially, 'the internet' all tried to sign up, at the same time, in a way that obviously crushed their infrastructure, and made the early sign up vastly less worthwhile. At least from the last I read, there's no way (or they just don't want to bother) to weed out who signed up early versus who just hopped in with the link going wide open.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a little annoyed, but it's more of a huff of exasperation and an eye roll than Internet Outrage. More a matter of 'seriously guys, you sent this out to presumably thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of people and didn't expect it to just end up 'in the wild'? A vastly more sensible way to do it would have been to stick with 'only those who signed up ahead of time' can get in, and then once that pool was selected, give them a chance to invite a few friends/family. Or a set of codes (though I guess that just becomes a game of people trying to sell access, but I'd be surprised if people hadn't tried to do that with the link anyways), or one of a dozen other ways it might've been a more streamlined outcome than opening the floodgates like this.
Oh well. Regardless of who gets in, it's not like a 3 hour sampler next weekend was going to make or break anything for me or my friends. That said, no matter what they say about us not being allowed to say shit about what we experience, I fully expect reactions to begin leaking online immediately. Yeah, sure, alpha build and all, but having 'normal' people get their hands on it in droves should lead to some interesting impressions to read about.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
Maybe they forgot that gamers gonna gamer, and thought all the people talking about how Bioware was dead to them and Anthem was totally gonna suck weren't going to sign up anyways
I'm glad people want to try the alpha and help the devs (just by playing even if they aren't the best testers they'll be providing invaluable information from the outside perspective). I just hope people don't do the dumb thing of posting alpha footage as an example of why their bias is totally correct.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
Anyone else get in on the PC? I see that Ein also was, but nobody else on my Origin list. Origin: Simpsoniah if anyone else wants to give it a shot. Due to a friendsgiving, I probably won't be around tomorrow, but will be playing on Sunday.
A friendly reminder to the thread that the playtest entry has some fairly harsh language about sharing *anything* about it publicly.
I don't think saying we're in it is a big deal, but I thought I'd get ahead of any actual impressions or content that might show up after this weekend.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
+1
Options
ObiFettUse the ForceAs You WishRegistered Userregular
I got in for Xbox One. Anyone else playing on Xbox One feel free to add me to your friends list and hit me up this weekend.
I can neither confirm nor deny that I preloaded the PC alpha last night. Do we have a list of folks on Origin who are available for playing totally non-Anthem games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer during oddly specific periods of time this weekend?
I can neither confirm nor deny that I preloaded the PC alpha last night. Do we have a list of folks on Origin who are available for playing totally non-Anthem games such as Dragon Age: Inquisition multiplayer during oddly specific periods of time this weekend?
After reading a certain document, we can confirm that there is a test for a game and that we are participating in a test...
...but that's it. We cannot give impressions or share our experiences with people about said game until the game is released.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
We conduct playtests to ensure the key systems and technology that power the game will hold up when we launch. For this one specifically, we are focusing on load balancing and scale testing our servers and matchmaking. We will be focusing the time windows of the playtest to give you the best opportunity to experience a slice of the game with others. We will also shut down the servers and games multiple times without notice and bring them all up again. This playtest is all about the group experience and the dedicated servers. We’ve focused the content on what is outside of Fort Tarsis to give you a chance to enjoy that experience. We’ve purposely built a small slice of the game, so we can look at those things while you play and enjoy the game. Therefore, the content in this playtest is about a month old and isn’t reflective of how the game looks and performs today or how it will at launch.
So, anyone who got in, and is preparing to play the game, be aware that this is NOT the full game, it's a stable build from about a month ago with only a portion of the game even playable. No suit customization, I'm reading we can't even change our Javelin loadout or hero perks.
To manage expectations from those who might expect otherwise.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Posts
Yeah, Dice did the audio in ME3, and it shows--especially compared to all titles since.
Bioware should just get Dice to do all their weapon audio and call it a day.
Honourable mention to the pre-nerf Krysae.
Which is to say that I'm entirely onboard with DICE doing the weapon audio for everything.
Game companies love to play loose with those terms, especially when they ask players to "beta test" their game, even though you're mostly playing a release candidate.
I'd be surprised if Anthem weren't at beta by now.
A cursory bit of Google'ing indicates that they announced achieving 'alpha' status in mid September.
As a layperson consumer, I've always associated 'beta' with something end users might get their hand on, however incorrect that might be. Going back decades to beta tests of elements (ME3's multiplayer), stress tests, and old school 'betas' with an early act, zone, map, whatever. Diablo 2's was fun, and really whetted my appetite for the whole thing.
Of course, it also seems to be academic more than anything. It goes into the wild in ~2.5 months in Demo form, and full release to some players a few weeks after that. Given it needing to be online to be played, I guess a day one patch doesn't mean it needs to be at 100% ready status even on the day it 'goes gold' and they start prepping for physical distribution, but I'd agree that I do hope they're progressing swiftly in these last few months to polish things up.
Given that it has allegedly been in development for nearly 7 years (apparently work began immediately after ME3 shipped) by the time players get their hands on it, I do hope that any remaining polish tidies up those snags in short order, but it won't shock me if they're crunching until it's out (nor would surprise showstoppers being found quickly once it's in the hands of millions, necessitating an immediate hotfix or ten surprise me either).
Alpha = game actively in development, content being added, by far the longest stage of development
Beta = content complete, bug fixing, UI finalization, not nearly as long of a stage of development (unless there are massive amounts of bugs (or you're Bethesda and just skip the bug testing phase))
Anthem is definitely still in Alpha if it has debug text like {Press RT To launch meteors or something}
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Yeah some fun flavor text.
pleasepaypreacher.net
That wizard came from the moon!
Too soon darkwolfe too soon.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Ah the Saber, the xerox machine of guns. I miss killing things with a photo copier.
After the M-98 Widow, of course.
It sounded and looked the same in all the previous gameplay footage too. That's the way the game sounds/looks right now as far as anything we've seen.
Now maybe it's gonna change but it's just as likely it won't since we have nothing on which to judge that issue in either direction.
I was all about the Falcon. Damn was that a great gun.
Andromeda ruined it.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
pleasepaypreacher.net
Or was it just the result was boring?
Edit: Nevermind, found it: https://ea.arcsivr.com/Portal/EA-CTE/Default
So when some guy got it and posted it on Reddit, which was then picked up by gaming news agencies, it wasn't just the people who had signed up before to be a part of the early testing.
Essentially, 'the internet' all tried to sign up, at the same time, in a way that obviously crushed their infrastructure, and made the early sign up vastly less worthwhile. At least from the last I read, there's no way (or they just don't want to bother) to weed out who signed up early versus who just hopped in with the link going wide open.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a little annoyed, but it's more of a huff of exasperation and an eye roll than Internet Outrage. More a matter of 'seriously guys, you sent this out to presumably thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of people and didn't expect it to just end up 'in the wild'? A vastly more sensible way to do it would have been to stick with 'only those who signed up ahead of time' can get in, and then once that pool was selected, give them a chance to invite a few friends/family. Or a set of codes (though I guess that just becomes a game of people trying to sell access, but I'd be surprised if people hadn't tried to do that with the link anyways), or one of a dozen other ways it might've been a more streamlined outcome than opening the floodgates like this.
Oh well. Regardless of who gets in, it's not like a 3 hour sampler next weekend was going to make or break anything for me or my friends. That said, no matter what they say about us not being allowed to say shit about what we experience, I fully expect reactions to begin leaking online immediately. Yeah, sure, alpha build and all, but having 'normal' people get their hands on it in droves should lead to some interesting impressions to read about.
Yeah that's more in the beta phase when you can play it on EA access. The alpha is going to mostly be actual issues.
pleasepaypreacher.net
pleasepaypreacher.net
Yeah, I'm expecting more of "we purposefully manipulated the controls to make this animation look Jank" kinda thing.
A friendly reminder to the thread that the playtest entry has some fairly harsh language about sharing *anything* about it publicly.
I don't think saying we're in it is a big deal, but I thought I'd get ahead of any actual impressions or content that might show up after this weekend.
Obi and Forar let us know monday!
D3: HexDex#1281, PSN: DireOtter, Live: DireOtter
I did not play ME3 mp, but I did play ME:A mp and hated it. So my viewpoint might be weird.
Oh well, woo, Anthem testing.
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
After reading a certain document, we can confirm that there is a test for a game and that we are participating in a test...
...but that's it. We cannot give impressions or share our experiences with people about said game until the game is released.
Key point regarding Testing:
So, anyone who got in, and is preparing to play the game, be aware that this is NOT the full game, it's a stable build from about a month ago with only a portion of the game even playable. No suit customization, I'm reading we can't even change our Javelin loadout or hero perks.
To manage expectations from those who might expect otherwise.