Suggestions for Betatests.net

[BetaTestAdmin]

Hey All,

We're currently in the process of giving the betatests.net webpage a much needed redesign.

Please post here your thoughts on what we can change or add in order to make the site more informative and useful to the betatest community. After all, you're the ones who are going to be using it!

[HeroicWolf86]

well i would like to see the ablity to check something so you dont have to keep typein your login and pass all the time kinda gets annoying sometimes and maybe off to the side a list of all betas being done and like the amount of time left until the beta is over that would be nice.

[Jape]

1. Message boards.

When beta starts, set up message forums on betatest.net for that beta and give access for all beta participants.

Don't use any 3rd party forum to host beta boards (like tazoon for horizons beta). Because it just makes things more complicated for testers.

Point is that all beta related stuff should be found on betatests.net (forums, downloads, news, etc).

2. Better bug handling.

I submitted quite a lot of bugs in horizons beta, all of them are still unapproved.

This makes testers feel that dev team doesnt give a damn about bugs.

3. More betas!

:p

[VernerVK]

1) Faster beta application processing time - It took me close to three months to get into the Horizons beta. Plus now that the HZ beta is over, I'm no longer in any beta although I've applied to all of the ones which are currently listed in the list of betas available to test.

2) A glitch free and improved bug reporting system - I noticed during betatesting of Horizons that the submit a bug report form had glitches. Betatesters can't report bugs when the report cant go through due to glitchy bug report page. That must get fixed in order to improve the bug reporting.

3) A better user interface. I know that we're just here to betatest other games, but a little bit of userfriendly interface would've been good. Something like a portal page which has news and important info clearly visible.

4) When you put the test focus on the betatesting login page, you could put it in the first page which the betatesters will get to upon login in. That way, they will remember what they're supposed to betatest this week.

[Xabora]

MAIN PAGE: Added Window built into the page with a list of current
and upcoming betas with dates.

Beta List Page: Allow more optional views - EXAMPLE
1: The current design
2: A List View (no beta icons)
3: A beta icon only view
4: A Windows Explorer-esque view that has small icons with the beta names next to them.
5: A Dynamic loading beta info page so the whole page doesn't
have to reload when you go from Documentation to Beta News.

Site Navigation:
When in a beta project add a link that allows you to goto the
current signed up betas page.

[Pyros]

Improve the listing system. Currently, it lists games that are not going to be tested, private tests, and the such. Also, when a game has completed testing, remove it from all user profiles. I've still got NWN (the original) listed as pending, despite it's been out for quite a bit.

Improve the bug submission system response time. Do the developers even read the bugs? Because none of the bugs I discovered for the XMP beta test were corrected until the very end, and they were not even confirmed in my submission status. I felt that they were focusing more over what was said on the beta boards then BetaTests.net, which undermines the whole system.

Use the ranking system that BetaTests.net was designed for. Make it so experienced testers get a larger portion of the slots. For example, make sure that 40% of the users accepted into the test are veterans/people with a lot of bug submission points. This way, 40% of the users are dedicated testers, and the other 60% have a chance to find bugs and prove they are also dedicated. It ensure people are playing to test, and not just to get a free game. Same goes with community members. Helpful members of the community should probably be allowed a posistion in the beta. If they have proven they are willing to spend the time to discuss the beta and the system on the boards, they are most likely going to be useful testers. Same goes with private testers. The top bug submitters/community members should be invited into private tests. It's a way to reward members, and increase productivity.

Also, more betas. I know this isn't quite possible, as betas depend on a number of circumstances, such as if they want the public testing, or if it even needs public testing. If possible, having at least one beta running at one time would be great.

Edit: Also, what happend to Gilly? He hasn't posted in months. Has he just disappeared?

[mgilmartin]

This is great guys thanks.

Just wanted to respond to Jape's comment.

I submitted quite a lot of bugs in horizons beta, all of them are still unapproved.

This makes testers feel that dev team doesnt give a damn about bugs.

This is a bug we are fixing. If you check back you should see updated stats on what was approved and what was rejected during the process.

FYI, all bugs were processed during the Betatest of Horizons.


Cheers
Gilly

[Pyros]

Another request: Turn off the caps sensitivity in BT.net user accounts. It would be easier if I could log in as say, pyros, instead of Pyros. It also makes it confusing for members who do not know it is caps sensitive.

[Ekimus33]

Would be great if you could make the site compatible with Netscape, Mozilla and Opera. (we are not all IE users)

[Jape]

One more thing:

Could you add newsletter type thingy on betatests.net that notifies (if user wants the newsletter ofcourse) about new betas.

Would be great if you could make the site compatible with Netscape, Mozilla and Opera. (we are not all IE users)

Aye, site says you are using unsupported browser, but Im using Mozilla and it seems to work just fine.

[dev0]

Why can I still apply for Horizons Beta?

[FiShMaStEr]

cookies for logging into the beta applications site! its so annoying that once u close the window or do something u have to log in again.

[BetaTestAdmin]

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. Some are things that we're already working on, but we are seing a lot of good ideas.

[Pyros]

Could you tell us what exactly the revamp will bring for us? Will it implement the ratings system, or launch with a new beta, or have some sort of "rewards" program?

[Doc8376]

Setup a message board, as was stated earlier, but more importantly, get an IRC channel going for teh games. Let a few of teh Devs or some people in the know that can talk to the devs moderate it and get instant feedback.

while in teh horizons beta i had constant problems with teh bug submission. Most i never submitted because it wouldn't let me go into enought detail in the form. so... Let users say more in teh report. i forget what it was set to before, but increase it. If i can't tell you about it acurately what's the point

Part of the XMP test i really liked was the fact that i could get faster response from teh forums and could get info on what had already been p[osted as buggy. while this told me what to look for and what had already been reported, it also let me know what to test for to make sure the latest patch had actually fixed it.

Another reason for forums, it built a comunity. While there probally would have been little or no help available for new users to XMP, the testers came together and made guides, helped New players, and overall helped to keep a game alive that had little or no advertising and wasn't even available to most users since nobody bought U2 the first time around.

After two months of getting no response from Betatests.net about problems and bugs, i simply went to the forums to fix things instead. This never should have happened. things need to be centralized so that the Devs and atari have access to everything discussed and by using outside frums that's just not always possible.

Sadly i also fear to some extent that the experiences of Legend Entertainment will be lost on Atari now that they've been closed down. I hope you can update your processes from their experience and make one of the best Beta sites around.

[Creig]

1.) Give the site more energy. Every time I got to betatests.net I see this dull page that lacks enthusiastic features.

2.) Allow for faster contact information between the developer and the beta team. A forum like suggested earlier would help. An irc channel where betatesters and developers can communicate about the bugs/content/game features, etc. An informative newsletter is also nessecary.

3.)Simplified bug reporting process. We need to be able as testers to report the bugs in a error free process. I think this is key in order for a game to be successful.

4.) Allow more freedom of expression. I would love for Atari setup a section to allow those who are talented in the in community the oppurtunity for jobs(Volunteer/Paid/Whatever)

5.) In the profile section allow for your current rank to be shown

6.) A section that show exceptional beta testers. Also reward beta tester who qualify for this.

7.) Have a schedule of events for the beta testers on the site. I believe organized beta testing is the best testing.

[Jannis]

Well just two big wishes by me:

- Please do not use the betatests.net webpage and separated forums for discussion, please install the forums for the beta tests into bt.net itself.

- Please include in every game a /bug command which let us report the bug directly from within the game and not force us to leave the game and enter BT.net every time.

Minor wishes:
- cookies for the login
- better design
- display of the betatester "rank"
- ...basically the same points already said above me.

:)

[Dwarden]

- increase size of custom fields (to be able enter more informations in them) ...

- fix bug in profile update
BUG : Warning: OCIStmtExecute: ORA-02291: integrity constraint (DDT.FK_BT_DX_SCREEN_RESOLUTION) violated - parent key not found in /inetpub/wwwroot/pubsupport/lib/oracle_db_handler.class.php on line 147


- DXdiag not parsed well (resolutions failing etc) , addition to previous one...

- someone please finally add "modern" hardware of present days, modern resolutions and such stuff, addition to previous two...

- support for testers with multiple computers ... (in profile or add computer profiles)

- better system for beta downloads links + mirrors (for example i received key and invitation to horizons testing but whole time i was unable to download it (and it tried it many times and followed all instructions, gave up at end of testing after nobody answered my emails asking for help) ...

- all emails regarding ATARI beta stuff, should start with subject prefix "ATARI BETA:" (for simpler filtering etc)

- what about IRC server and TeamSpeak / Ventrillo server for testers?

thats all for now ...more later ...

[TROCKI]

In the case where you do implement forums:

The testers rank should be shown under their avatar/title. I know most forums show rank based on number of posts, but I'm refering to the testing rank. That could help differentiate who knows what.

[Jape]

The testers rank should be shown under their avatar/title. I know most forums show rank based on number of posts, but I'm refering to the testing rank. That could help differentiate who knows what.

And why is that exactly important?

Maybe you should read the messages and stop checking the ranks. Maybe that way you truely can tell who knows what :rolleyes:

[phatoneusa]

Beta tests by system type
IE PC XBOX PS2 and MAC listed so that you can beta test for more console games. Please do testing on xbox live games on here.

[Squ00g3]

I have several machines covering a broad range of hardware. It would be good to be able to have more than one entry in case you need tests on (for example) any of the various sound/video combos I have.

[Pyros]

Also, make the system so that testers have to submit their DXDIAG.txt. This would ensure they actually have the hardware you're looking for, and not lying, which I can certainly believe that some testers do.

[Damokles]

I would like a link with a detailed description about every Beta you can request because i don't really know what "Atari Betatesting System (DB APP)" means.

[Pyros]

Originally posted by Damokles
I would like a link with a detailed description about every Beta you can request because i don't really know what "Atari Betatesting System (DB APP)" means.

It's just the beta test system itself, not a game. Nothing to worry about.

[Damokles]

ok, but a more detailed description would be nice though

[Zupancic]

The directions for using the dxdiag tool are wrong. It is stated that you select the file from the browse button and then hit "upload," there is no such command. You need to hit the open button, and then it places your path there. When you hit the "edit profile" button on the bottom of the screen, it then auto populates the fields. Nice feature though.

[ThA_Domin8or]

i accidently put mail as my way of receiving the betas u should put an option when you edit your profile to change it if u make a mistake

[dev0]

Finished / no longer aviable tests should be removed automatically from the pending requests list.

[dev0]

I get this error if I want to update (click edit profile button) with a chosen screen resolution:

Warning: OCIStmtExecute: ORA-02291: integrity constraint (DDT.FK_BT_DX_SCREEN_RESOLUTION) violated - parent key not found in /inetpub/wwwroot/pubsupport/lib/oracle_db_handler.class.php on line 147

[BetaTestAdmin]

Thanks for all the suggestions and for the bug reports. We want to make sure this process is workign as smoothly as possible for our next beta.

Domin8or - There is currently an option to change any of your profile information, including your preferred deliveyr method. SImply log in, clik on "Edit my Profile", and you should find the field available to change.

dev0 - What type and version of browser are you using?

[TROCKI]

Originally posted by Jape
And why is that exactly important?

Maybe you should read the messages and stop checking the ranks. Maybe that way you truely can tell who knows what :rolleyes:

Because a high rank tester might not post often. And someone who don't know jack could post all day with bad info. So I would like to know if the info I read on the forums is good or not. In business, experience means a lot. I have trouble believing everything every Joe Shmoe posts.

2 users post opposing replies to a question. User A has a forum rank of "member". User B has a forum rank of "new member". Who do you believe? Forum rank only reflects how many posts they've submitted on the forums. If there testing rank is listed you would know which one is most likely accurate.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[zaprobo]

- For those of us who "came in from the cold" during the Hoizons test, a one-shot chance to change our usernames during this down period would be appreciated.

[Xabora]

DXDIAG.TXT file
Our system now allows users to upload their dxdiag.txt file, generated by dxdiag.exe run from the command line. This allows users to specify their machine specs automatically according to their detected hardware.
To generate a DXDIAG output file:


-Select "Run" from your Start Menu.

-In the "Open" field, type, "dxdiag" and press the enter key.

-This will open up your DirectX Diagnostic tool.

-Click the "Save all information" button in the bottom right of the application.

-In the prompt that appears, click on the "Save" button. Note where you saved this file.

-On this page, click on the "Browse" button.

-Select the dxdiag.txt file from the location where you saved it.

-Click "Upload" on this page.

All done!



Problem: There is NO upload button,
Could you edit the test so it says

Click "Edit Profile" on this page.

[dev0]

@Betatestadmin:
I'm using Opera 7.23.

[Link_Aylomen]

keep the desighn the same!! i think its one of the best ones i go to, it provides fast, easy acces to what you need even on a slow connection its fast.. however.. maybe the option to get a list of forthcomeing beta tests ?

[fulsome]

I think the dual beta boards is troublesome as well. I posted far more bugs on Tazoon (for Horizons beta) than I did on betatests because I knew I was getting a response there.

Yea, give us a little more visual flair and make something up even if there's no real news; there's nothing more disillusioning than checking back months later and seeing the same headlines.

Otherwise, simple is good. Just the age-old difference between simple and half-assed :)


Fulsome