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I've been selected for beta test.
*dances in glee*
From: Qixter
Developer
To: SkySmith Foxhatman
Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:41 pm
Subject: You've been selected for the Battle beta test!

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A NOTE ABOUT BETA FROM QIXTER
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Howdy, Gaian MMO Beta Testers!!!

The day is finally here! You're invited to be some of the very first players of Gaia Online's new MMO.

So what should you expect? You should expect quirky humor, great visuals, and gameplay with a surprising amount of interaction and depth.

But what you *shouldn't* expect is a finished game. Being in a Beta is a cool experience, but it's not the same thing as buying a finished game from a store. You should expect bugs, wonky combat balance (that will be constantly adjusting), things changing at a rapid rate between play sessions, and player database wipes causing you to have to start over occasionally.

Additionally, the game servers won't be up 24/7 right away. We'll be pouring lots of you in to watch how the servers stress or break, and then we'll stop to fix lots of stuff before letting you in again to help us test the new code.

So...even though you're some of the FIRST people to see and play the game, please expect to be at least occasionally frustrated by the experience. icon_smile.gif

That being said...what do *we* expect from *you*? Well, basically only two things:

1) Play as much as you can when the servers are up, and;

2) Tell us your opinions and log bug reports.

That's your whole entire duty, and by doing those things, you'll be helping us create a stronger, better game for all of the Gaian community. How does that sound?

Okay, if you like that so far, you're probably going to be a great beta tester.

One last thing: You will be tempted to go tell people that you're a beta tester and you'll want to leak screenshots and tidbits of info to other Gaians and non-Gaians after you start playing.

In a word...don't. You'll find that if you brag about being a beta tester, other people will get mad at you for all kinds of really strange reasons and it's not usually a pleasant experience. And if you leak screenshots or previously non-released info about the game, there won't be any legal "NDA-ish" consequences, but we *will* ban your account. So, please don't do that. The whole point of a beta period is to polish and hone the gameplay so that the first-experience for non-testers is a great one. We don't want to poison those first-impression with all kinds of negative opinions about the early days of beta and the stuff we fixed before they ever saw the game. If you feel you don't want to adhere to these rules, then no harm done...just don't play the beta.

Fair enough?

We're going to have a great beta test. You'll see! And the game's going to be a great addition to Gaia.

We're looking forward to seeing you in-game!


-- Dave ("Qixter" wink Georgeson
Sr. Producer/Director
Gaia's Casual MMO
Gaia Online

Lolwin?