Arma 3 Community Alpha - Announcement!

[kremator 1065]

Hello!

I'm really new to this forum and also arma 3 so I've got a question about to get in the alpha:

What do you have to do to help BI during alpha stage? (In other words how to get in alpha testing?)

I'm afraid its the Coldstream Guards initiation to get in ..... brush shaft and Ralgex up the jacksie!

[pvtdancer 5]

Well to get into the alpha the Dev's require you to get them some elbow grease and head light fluid. :D JK

[antoineflemming 14]

You encourage me facepalm...

If we knew when the alpha date was, it'd be in the first post...

Well we know a general timeframe... around august is the goal.

[gossamersolid 155]

Well we know a general timeframe... around august is the goal.

That's not a set date, therefore, we do not know...

[waxman 5]

I am very much liking the differing alpha versions, as i see it an open 'Demo alpha' based on the stablest content available this would give every one who wants to get a feel for it and have some input on the 'features' and a more focused 'open alpha' made up of those people who are prepared to live with more unstable alpha versions and actually fully participate with in-depth and reasoned reports.

This to me makes a heck of a lot of sense, offer something free and most of the unhelpful elements will end up there leaving a balanced selection of people who can identify what an alpha / test build is actually about. Helps the development team separate out general game impressions form the wider community while also expanding the feature code test user base, wins all around.

[pvtdancer 5]

I am very much liking the differing alpha versions, as i see it an open 'Demo alpha' based on the stablest content available this would give every one who wants to get a feel for it and have some input on the 'features' and a more focused 'open alpha' made up of those people who are prepared to live with more unstable alpha versions and actually fully participate with in-depth and reasoned reports.

This to me makes a heck of a lot of sense, offer something free and most of the unhelpful elements will end up there leaving a balanced selection of people who can identify what an alpha / test build is actually about. Helps the development team separate out general game impressions form the wider community while also expanding the feature code test user base, wins all around.

But thats the problem! Open alpha's bring in people who are looking for a free game to play and then when they are crashing or glitching they rage and spread bad rumors about the game it was like that with BF3. sorry I keep bringing up BF3 but a large portion of the testers were HORRIBLE me and 3 other members friended each other and worked everyday to try and keep the forums constructive but there were so many flamers trolls and idiots it just worries me is all. I hope it works for the Dev's sakes I really do.

[antoineflemming 14]

But thats the problem! Open alpha's bring in people who are looking for a free game to play and then when they are crashing or glitching they rage and spread bad rumors about the game it was like that with BF3. sorry I keep bringing up BF3 but a large portion of the testers were HORRIBLE me and 3 other members friended each other and worked everyday to try and keep the forums constructive but there were so many flamers trolls and idiots it just worries me is all. I hope it works for the Dev's sakes I really do.

Difference is, BF3 WAS bad. Their alpha was better than their beta (I know, I was in both).

[pvtdancer 5]

I was in both and I was happier with the beta in the sense of the game but I liked the original damage model in the alpha better. but what do you mean by bad? in the sense of testers or do you mean the game? sorry I know this is off topic, well only kinda because we are talking about the lack of good testers when in an open or give away kind of alpha\beta...

[gossamersolid 155]

Yeah exactly what the guys above me said.

They don't want to release a super buggy Alpha because a bunch of toolbags don't understand that Alpha != Final product. Then the game will get tons of bad press before it's out.

Battlefield 3 on the other hand deserved bad feedback. The game launched via BattleLog would fail to boot the game 50% of the time. This happened far into post-release too. I don't know if it has been fixed or not because I don't really play the game anymore.

[pvtdancer 5]

huh never had that issue with BF3 Gossamersolid and I didn't know anyone who did. Honestly I never had that many issues with BF3 it always worked well for me. and I still really love playing it. even though its not as good as 2 or 1942 its still a lot of fun. But I still am really interested to see what we will be testing in the beta if it will be the basic training in the camp they were showing at E3 or if we will get something else to test

[maddogx 13]

huh never had that issue with BF3 Gossamersolid and I didn't know anyone who did. Honestly I never had that many issues with BF3 it always worked well for me. and I still really love playing it. even though its not as good as 2 or 1942 its still a lot of fun. But I still am really interested to see what we will be testing in the beta if it will be the basic training in the camp they were showing at E3 or if we will get something else to test

Then I guess you were lucky, because I and every BF3 player I know experienced the same problems that were widely reported across the web. And I'm not talking about the alpha or beta, this was post release.

Anyway, it's great to see that BIS is dedicated to polishing the game as much as they can, even to the point of getting the alpha into a presentable state. It sucks that we have to wait even longer for it, but in the end it will be for the best.

[gossamersolid 155]

Then I guess you were lucky, because I and every BF3 player I know experienced the same problems that were widely reported across the web. And I'm not talking about the alpha or beta, this was post release.

Was about to say, every single person in my community experienced this issue...

[OverpaidUnderdog 1]

Yeah exactly what the guys above me said.

They don't want to release a super buggy Alpha because a bunch of toolbags don't understand that Alpha != Final product. Then the game will get tons of bad press before it's out.

Battlefield 3 on the other hand deserved bad feedback. The game launched via BattleLog would fail to boot the game 50% of the time. This happened far into post-release too. I don't know if it has been fixed or not because I don't really play the game anymore.

Look on the bright side; that could weed out the idiots. Those who hate a game based on the alpha won't buy the final release, and we won't have to waste time on them when we do. I'm actually looking forward to finding and reporting bugs; BIS has done more than enough already by keeping us informed and dissecting all the improvements and additions they're making. The least we can do is help them find a couple of annoying (or serious) bugs. How many other developers do you see doing that?

[twisted 128]

We hope to be able to come up with smart combination of free and closed P&C Alpha of Arma 3.

Pre-order for alpha access with pleasure for me.

[gonk 0]

The last time BIS tried the alpha release prior to the game was OFP. And it turned out pretty good. The main reason was they actually listened to the main gripes from the forums... things like... concertinaing trees.. no kneel.. even small things like can we have coloured smoke grenades... and a 64 bit version.. I still waiting on the last one... :p But overall it went very well for the players and for BIS.

Lets not panic and I am sure it will be ok.

[ilovebeer 0]

Really looking forward to hearing new information soon!:)

[Darth_Saulop 1]

I cant wait for play alpha of this game!!! :p:o:rolleyes:

[edjcox 10]

How do I get on the Alpha list or Beta list for that matter?

:butbut:

[Maio 293]

How do I get on the Alpha list or Beta list for that matter?

:butbut:

Nobody knows details regarding the Alpha/Beta besides the devs.

[RoboSheriff 1]

Can't wait to test this out.

[lNTRUDER 26]

All I can say is that with the latest round of BS from EA/Dice (the "premium" package for BF3), I can't wait to try ARMA III. EA's given me the green weenie too many times, and I look forward to supporting a company that appears to actually respect its player base.

Then you've come to the right place mate :)

[oldbear 390]

Stop! these guys are just back from E3 ... if it was for me after such a strain I will need a month in a secluded place very far in the mountains.

I believe we will have to wait for a while, Ivan must heal his beer muscles, Jay must explain many things to Maruk and Mr Bean must get rid of the zombie lag ...

So we are going to wait ...

Then after the new strategy being define ... we will get some infos, hints or communiqué

[Alex72 1]

True that. Please stop the rather meaningless posts of how excited you are to test the alpha. We all are and BIS knows it too well. ;)

[mr.g-c 6]

The last time BIS tried the alpha release prior to the game was OFP. And it turned out pretty good. The main reason was they actually listened to the main gripes from the forums... things like... concertinaing trees.. no kneel.. even small things like can we have coloured smoke grenades... and a 64 bit version.. I still waiting on the last one... :p But overall it went very well for the players and for BIS.

Lets not panic and I am sure it will be ok.

Wow... i wasn't aware of that...OFP... really that? Are the old Topics maybe still a there? Or sunk with the Ikonboard?

I came into OFP through a Preview-Article in the german "PC Games" Magazine around 2000, the free-world-everything-playable idea was a revolution in itself.

[Yeti1 1]

This is the way it should be done, thanks BIS you have become my favourite developer of all time!