Should Madden have a BETA?

[Exonerated]

the majority of games don't have betas.

[Gotmadskillzson]

General public will never get to play it. They have alpha which is community day in january or february, then they have release candidate which is a much smaller community day which is usually 6 to 8 weeks prior to the game coming out.

Only ones that get to test it is the Game Changers......I don't how many got invited back for Madden, but for NCAA this year Game Changers got invited back to Orlando 4 times this development cycle and will be invited back for a 5th time in May.

Then E3 in June will be the 6th time.

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Quote: Originally Posted by tajai

usually other game genres do "betas" but after the complete lack of defense in 11 (which couldn't have been predicted after a solid madden 10) and complete loss of trust for many of the hardcore, why not? i'd be all for it. set a new trend! be the first sports game with a beta Madden! IF you trust your product that is... i only trust gameplay at this point. words mean little after what happened last year. FYI: a demo is NOT a beta..

Complete lack of defense??? I must be some kind of God then , becuase I can play defense in Madden. is it perfect no, but there is a way to play defense in the game.

Anyways to answer your question. Yes a beta would be nice.

[Broncos86]

Could you imagine if some people here were playing the beta? There would be multiple shouts of bugs, issues, etc. Part of being a beta tester is being able to look beyond the bugs (while reporting those bugs at the same time). In games like MMOs, many people play the beta merely to get a sneak peek. They treat the beta as if it were a released product.

IMO, this forum would be caked with rage from "beta testers."

[tjizzle]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

You must have ditched your game early. Defense was fixed via last patch and tuner set in the middle of December. They now have tuner sets like college football does, so, they will probably be your beta. Plus, there is already a thread started on QA testing. Similar topic.

I play online regularly and I have a respectable record (65 win %), however I am in agreement with the op. Regardless of the patches that were released for Madden, my games have consistently had scores totaling over 100 points. This is something I never seen in previous versions of the game, so in from my perspective the op is completely correct. I can play defense well, however if your up against a good player or someone who continuously runs an indefensible play, due to the poor A.I., your going to in for a high scoring game.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by Broncos86

Could you imagine if some people here were playing the beta? There would be multiple shouts of bugs, issues, etc. Part of being a beta tester is being able to look beyond the bugs (while reporting those bugs at the same time). In games like MMOs, many people play the beta merely to get a sneak peek. They treat the beta as if it were a released product. IMO, this forum would be caked with rage from "beta testers."

That's every beta though.

If you are on a beta forum, there SHOULD be tons of posts on issues. The problem is that some people won't voice those issues in a mature manner, but again, this is the case for every beta.

If you look past bugs and issues in a beta, then you aren't doing the job that the game designers charged you with.

[tajai]

hmmm...could be. but IMO there's a big difference between "oh my god! uniforms don''t get dirty/i dont have short, loose sleeves for my QB" and "the jetpack is back/suction blocking is still in." wouldnt u say?

IMO many of the game-changers want to stay in EA's good graces (exhibit A being none of them said anything about broken defense in the day 1 release) so I only trust MY OWN opinion. not putting out a beta because ur game has too many flaws kinda reinforces why you need one.

i think it'd be a good gesture to say "here, we have confidence this is a good product, try it out and see."

[Broncos86]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

That's every beta though. If you are on a beta forum, there SHOULD be tons of posts on issues. The problem is that some people won't voice those issues in a mature manner, but again, this is the case for every beta. If you look past bugs and issues in a beta, then you aren't doing the job that the game designers charged you with.

You took what I said far too literally in regards to bugs (hence why I made mention of reporting bugs as well). As a beta tester (and I am involved in a lot of software testing), you can't get caught up on the bug itself. You need to report the bug, how you replicated the bug, and then move on. but I really think a lot of people in this community are far too passionate to make a proper beta tester. They'd see a bug and throw the controller, claim the coming the hell itself, and bash the developers (hyperbole, etc etc).

This is one of the reasons some developers hold QA in-house until they feel a public beta is truly ready. And by that point, we've basically been given the demo.