Are we doing our job? (the life of Alpha testing)

[Mikisew01]

I am moving this question to a different thread to get away from some of the flame threads and issues there.

What I am asking is how we see ourselves as Alpha testers. Personally, I see my primary purpose here as someone who needs to provide feedback to the devs as to problems with code....playability of the game...and suggestions with respect to planned features to be implemented. I assume the basic concept is already there with the people doing the heavy lifting, and understand how major changes can mean weeks of work for a product which essentially is making no money yet.

However, there are many who are here just for the joy of playing the game...and they have a role too. Without everyone, we would not have the people to truly see how the game works under pressure. We also would not be able to think "outside the box" as successfully with less people. But at the core, it is a game in Alpha that we all hope to move to Beta soon.

So, where do you fit in? How do you see your role as a lab rat in this Alpha test, and how can we make our feedback constructive for the devs so that our hopes and dreams for this game are a reality sooner?

 

[Mikisew01]

Just for those who need some help with the Alpha / Beta testing concept:

http://www.centercode.com/blog/2011/01/alpha-vs-beta-testing/

 

[Comr4de]

If you've ever used the bug tracker you're doing your job.

 

[BlackEyez]

If you've ever used the bug tracker you're doing your job.

However the solution i recieved for my bug/problem still doesnt help. Example i keep being told that i am running out of memory and to increase max and min. Which i have done but still the problem continues. So should i re-report the problem or suggest they fix the memory eating code at the root of the problem

I have no trouble playing BF4 so i know it's not my computer.

How should i present this in a constructive way?

 

[whiterhino16]

Well, not much in the terms of bugs. Or exploits. I'm a horrible game tester :/.

 

[NeonSturm]

Always I find one it got already reported.

I wish I would know how I can get the option which causes most lag without testing each one disabled (would help with deciding which initial settings to choose too = Newbies and players with new PCs / lost settings)

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Lag inducing settings: lighting, shadows, 2d texture compression, antialias. Of all the above settings shadows are the worst. My recommended settings would have to differ per computer, but my general advice is to leave shadows off at all times.
Max segments actually should be put higher than standard depending on your computer to reduce lag, and max segments in queue also should be higher to reduce lag. Antialias is by far the prettiest option to choose from, so if you can run antialias, 256 lighting rays and the 256 texture pack together, deffinitely do that. Just don't put shadows on for now. Even if your life depended on it.

 

[Comr4de]

However the solution i recieved for my bug/problem still doesnt help. Example i keep being told that i am running out of memory and to increase max and min. Which i have done but still the problem continues. So should i re-report the problem or suggest they fix the memory eating code at the root of the problem

I have no trouble playing BF4 so i know it's not my computer.

How should i present this in a constructive way?

I need to clarify my post then. By using the bugtracker ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING IN THE BUGFIXING PROCESS. It's not as easy as just reporting an issue and calling it a day. Part of the process is figuring out what actually causes the problem. Sometimes bugs are rejected because there's just not enough information to solve it. That's because you need to give the information they need, not just "plz help my game wont work ((".

 

[Mikisew01]

I worry sometimes that we loose our "alpha" focus sometimes. When our constructions (titans or other ships) or gameplay (my ships isn't as fast anymore) is threatened by changes, we seem to think that should matter during an "alpha". I also don't think that massive numbers are necessary (or even desirable) at an "alpha" stage game. As long as we have enough to give features a thorough testing, but not too many to overwhelm the process...I think we are doing good.