Pronta la beta: intervista a Atanasov, CEO di Earthrise
Alteregonline Interview 1/12/09, with Atanas Atanasov, CEO of Masthead Studios
1) What will be the beta steps? How the beta phases will evolve in the next months?
There will be several beta stages before Earthrise launches.
Those stages will be divided into several parts each, which means that there will be more than 3 waves of beta invites. We will start with closed limited beta test, which will focus on gameplay features and server loads. After that our plans are to increase the beta tester base and run some stability tests and massive PvP battles. The last stage will be when we want to test the full functionality of Earthrise. We are not giving any estimation on when those stages will happen. Everything depends on the testing results.
2) Will there be a general (with server open 24 hrs) test or only a technical one (only at pre-fixed days) in this first phase? Will both European and American players be invited?
Most of the time severs will be online, there are no technical issues that will limit their usage. We plan to invite both European and American players. In fact, we don’t want to limit the invitations for those 2 regions only. We have received beta applications from all over the world, so everyone has equal chances to be admitted no matter where they live.
3) ER community users have suggested some interesting beta tools to use in the process; will it be possible to implement them during the beta?
We have been following the forum thread very closely and have taken some notes. We want the community to know that we do consider their ideas and appreciate all of their contributions to the process. There are many more things that we have planned for the beta tests.
4) Many beta testers want to play the game without being interested in finding bugs and reporting them to devs. How much of a "beta" is useful for devs?
This is the time to note that being invited to closed beta bears some responsibility to play the game and test it and write reports and post bugs. We expect that everyone who is invited to participate in the Earthrise beta will have a mature attitude and help us build the game that everyone wants to play – free of bugs and problems, with gameplay which is fun and exciting.
5) Is it correct to think that ER could be on the shelves in autumn 09?
We are not going to give any promises or announce release dates just yet. There are several factors that should be considered when launching an MMO title. A complete and stable game is only one of the factors to consider.
6) Will there be a beta forum?
Yes, there will be beta forum, which will be available to everyone who is invited to participate in the tests.
7) Many MMORPGs use to have an external beta tester team to help devs to resolve the basic problems that many testers could have. What do you think about it?
It really depends on how the close beta tests will run. If Earthrise needs a beta tester team, we will hire such team.
8.) Will there be beta contests in the near future?
Beta key giveaways and contests are planned for later stages. The near future is a very broad term, so I am not giving any time promises at the moment.