When Will We Finally Be Beta?

[VonEpic]

I know that features are more or less in place barring a massive Dev overhaul, so wouldn't we be in BETA PHASE at this point?

[Hargrim]

Probably never. It's Alpha sounds better.

[Aethilmar]

I'm actually curious what someone thinks moving to "beta" would actually accomplish on a practical level.

[Hargrim]

I'm actually curious what someone thinks moving to "beta" would actually accomplish on a practical level.

Nothing.

- It's Alpha!
- It's Beta!
- It's 1.0 but it's still work in progress!

[Aethilmar]

I'm actually curious what someone thinks moving to "beta" would actually accomplish on a practical level.

Nothing.

- It's Alpha!
- It's Beta!
- It's 1.0 but it's still work in progress!

You could try something original and just go straight to the "omega" version. Cooler than "alpha" imo.

Might be able to give a presentation at a conference about it.

[szejoza]

- It's Alpha!
- It's Beta!
- It's 1.0 but it's still work in progress!

Player comes in, sees one of the below, his reaction is:
- Alpha - well, **** it, it's unplayable as alpha is more of a playtest ground to see if basic features are working
- Beta - well, pre-release state of the game, should be playable in most of the areas, changes are deemed to happen but stuff would be getting close to end-state, worth trying if I should have the patience for a bug here and there
- 1.0 - full release, with tweaks happening (come on, how many 1.0 MMOs were ever released, it's always some 1.0.8 or stuff like that), should be working in 99% of the areas, definately worth trying

right now RoR is somewhere between alpha-beta state where some stuff isn't implemented yet while other was playtested for years

[kejek]

Player comes in, sees one of the below, his reaction is:
- Alpha - well, **** it, it's unplayable as alpha is more of a playtest ground to see if basic features are working
- Beta - well, pre-release state of the game, should be playable in most of the areas, changes are deemed to happen but stuff would be getting close to end-state, worth trying if I should have the patience for a bug here and there
- 1.0 - full release, with tweaks happening (come on, how many 1.0 MMOs were ever released, it's always some 1.0.8 or stuff like that), should be working in 99% of the areas, definately worth trying

right now RoR is somewhere between alpha-beta state where some stuff isn't implemented yet while other was playtested for years

This is how I see the definition of Alpha/Beta/Release.

No MMO is "finished" and "fully working" in all areas. Alpha made me think this was going to be a nightmare of bugs. It's got a few, but it was a surprise how well everything worked. It's definitely more of a Beta to me, most major bugs are taken care of, just minor bugs and content is missing.

[VonEpic]

You could try something original and just go straight to the "omega" version.

Holy smack, THIS.

[VonEpic]

I'll give you this, Hargy, You're a better programmer than you are a marketer.

[wargrimnir]

We like to keep expectations low. You guys are more than enough hassle for us.