New Beta Program! (Please Read Me!)

Official News
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Ahoy, adventurers! I have some good news, some bad news, and potentially some exciting news? You be the judge! First, the bad news… We will be closing down the beta testing program as it exists now.

Why, you ask? Without getting too off track, we have found that it is no longer working as intended. Many of our beloved beta testers have moved on, and the amount of constructive criticism and feedback has diminished. As such, in its current state it is no longer meeting the needs of the players or developers.The good news? We are re-working the beta program! Woohoo! It is our hope that this means we get more valuable feedback, and have a clearer, more streamlined process in place to help.

These are the steps we will be taking moving forward.

  1. The old beta will be closed, with all previous beta testers being removed from the sub forum. We will also be changing how the beta is accessed to ensure there is a fresh start.

  2. The new beta will be opened! Woohoo!

  3. We will be opening applications for the beta 4 times a year. There will be a short questionnaire to fill out that will be reviewed by our team. During this time some beta testers will be removed to make room for new testers. This means that testers can take breaks as needed, and fresh eyes can have a chance to join the team. (Don’t worry, we will discuss with everyone when the time comes about who will be leaving. This will likely be due to other commitments, or people needing to take a break.)

  4. For each testing period the beta testers will be set loose in the update, and alongside encouraging general feedback, we will have specific parts of the update that we will seek thoughts on.

So, when is this starting? Fingers crossed for the next major update! We are working on things behind the scenes to make this happen. Please note that all current beta testers (outside of our two biggest streamers, Tacet and Keylime) will need to re-apply to the beta program. We weren’t kidding about this being a fresh start! We will also only be accepting applications during the time frame we specify when the next beta period is planned. If you apply outside of this window, your application won’t be read, and you’ll need to re-send it when the time is right.

In the coming weeks I will be announcing when the fresh beta program opens. :heart:

PS, as always the beta is only available on Steam. This is because Steam is the easiest platform to push builds too! This means that when there is time, we can make additional builds of updates based on tester feedback. This isn’t always possible due to time constraints but is something we like to do when we can. APKs on Android can be quite fiddly (don’t even get us started on iOS!) and it isn’t possible to run our beta effectively on Amazon, PS4, Xbox1, or Nintendo Switch.

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When we fill out the questionaire to be reviewed, if we are rejected, will we be informed why we were rejected?

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It depends on time constraints and the amount of applications. If we get a lot I won’t be able to offer feedback on applications, so it’s most likely a no. I’m sorry. :frowning:

(Also, there are some reasons that could cause a player to be rejected that aren’t pleasant to receive, and will make me come under fire. For example, if a player is overwhelmingly negative on the forums and offers harsh words instead of constructive criticism, they won’t be accepted into the beta program. Harsh words and attacking us doesn’t help us make a better game, and doesn’t help us make changes to better suit the playerbase. However, receiving that as a reason for rejection will make much more trouble than it’s worth.)

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Thats fair.

Was more in relation to things like, not on Steam enough, or small issues like that that can be fixed, not overwhelming personality issues like you mentioned lol

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I will wait for your questionnaire to apply, it is a pity of course that you will not write for whatever reason it is refused

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Just added this to the end. :slight_smile:

Please be aware that due to platform constraints and limitations that beta is only available on Steam.

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This is a good idea, in my opinion.

In the now-previous beta program, there really wasn’t a general direction for beta testers to follow. We saw the section of patch notes for the update, tried to make sense of them, and then everyone kind of did their own thing. As a result, the feedback (in general) was at times scattershotted over everything and what beta testers ended up focusing on (including me, at times) was the negative, when there wasn’t something specific to focus on. Pointing and perhaps some light shepherding in the right direction for specific feedback for the new beta team on specific targets will likely yield much higher quality constructive feedback.

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While being in favor of this in general, being referred to as a “beta babe” kinda leaves a bad taste. The alliteration is lovely, but “babe” seems all wrong somehow.

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Happy to change that! I’ve been referring to the beta testers that way for a while on the forums and not encountered issues before. Thanks for letting me know, I will change it from now on.

EDIT: All fixed and removed from this post.

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@Salty, you’re the best. :heart:

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source (7)

I prefer honesty over making folks feel good about mistakes. But hey I get it… It’s not for everyone. :man_shrugging:

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I don’t understand this, it’s better the bitter truth than a beautiful lie, and developers can take some words as not constructive criticism but as pressure on them

if I am an impulsive person, it turns out that I don’t fit chtoli anymore?

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Attacking us doesn’t help anyone. I don’t think we are being unreasonable by requesting construstive criticism, I think that is a pretty rational baseline. In no way have I intimated that we want beautiful lies. Beautiful lies don’t help us, and don’t help you. In case I wasn’t clear enough, we want constructive criticism and feedback.

We don’t need everyone to agree with us, in fact, we hope some of the testers don’t! We want a broad range of constructive, useful, and actionable feedback to help improve the game.

If you are a person that is prone to knee jerk reactions, or speaking without thinking, or getting caught up in the heat of the moment and attacking others, the beta program is not for you. This is an ongoing back and forth discussion, not an opportunity for players to take digs at the developers.

The aim of the beta program is to improve the game for BOTH the players and the developers.

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I would not want to praise myself, but I’m the one you need))

I usually express what others think, but are silent for some reason, and I think before saying anything, I won’t get ahead of ourselves to see, and you still decide who is best suited for your program

I hope your decision whom to choose will also be rational and with a clear approach to this matter.

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Constructive criticism is criticism without negativity because, generally speaking, negativity isn’t, in itself, constructive.

Giving the new beta methodology the benefit of the doubt, I’d be willing to wager Salty’s not asking for flattery or “beautiful lies”. She’s seeking actionable feedback that’s phrased in a way that’s both kind and demonstrates a passion for having the best possible game.

The two things are not mutually exclusive.

EDIT: Salty types faster than I do and said it better than me this go-around :joy: :sweat_smile:

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If you’re speaking solely to the beta thread. Then I get it because whoever is running the program has to read all the feedback. So a certain amount of tact should be applied to all feedback there.
But being frustrated with the game (developers of the game) and venting about it on here in a general sense shouldn’t be held against the player. But the program will surely be based on developers favorites. As it always has been. If someone was constantly telling me “how much I suck” I imagine they wouldn’t be my favorite person either.
Those who are more worried about the developers liking them than helping make the best game possible. Isn’t helping anyone either though.

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the road to the better does not exist without disputes and criticism, people are all different, no one knows his behavior under certain conditions, so the road to excellence will not go beyond the cup in a friendly atmosphere, I can definitely say that

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@Magnusimus has the right of it.

I also want to point out the difference between negative feedback and outright negativity. Negative feedback, if it is constructive, is also encouraged. You can dislike parts of the update and less us know!

EG…

“I don’t like this system, because I feel it affects my part of the player base negatively. I can see how it suits another part, but I don’t believe players like me will find value in it. Is there a way certain rewards could be tweaked at different levels?”

This is a good example of negative AND constructive feedback. This is useful feedback.

Now, to show general negativity…

“This system is awful. Did you think about my part of the player base at all? I have no idea what you are trying to do, but you’ll drive players away. You can’t release this. I can’t believe you thought this was a good idea.”

This is not constructive or useful. It can’t in any way be used to improve the game.

I hope this has helped clarify the kind of feedback we are looking for!

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I repeat all people are different and not everyone is able to speak flatteringly or have diplomatic skills, many say what they think and do not look for beautiful phrases, the essence is the same but in different contexts, are you looking for the part where everything is plush right I understand?

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Good interpersonal skills are vital to life.

They will also be vital to be part of the beta program.

That’s all I have to say on the matter. :heart:

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