Arma 3 Community Alpha - Announcement!

[krazikilla 5]

"Quote:

Quote Originally Posted by Tonci87 View Post

Why not restrict the Alpha to BIS Forum members? That way some potential customers would find the forums.

Hmm, come to think of it... imagine if they put a feature into the alpha from which you can directly fill out a bug report while in-game. Now further imagine that this bug report is automatically posted to an alpha testing sub-section of these forums.

And finally, consider this thread.

"Testing something about Arma"? Oh yes, I do think so.

" /Quote

Oh ye, limit it to long term forum members :) Longer then 3 years for example.

So you can be pretty sure that only people who are in the material can test it.

- For people who really want to help, not only use it as a demo

- People who know what alpha/beta means and wont whine because of alpha-errors.

Id say that most people registerd longer then 3 years would fit in an alpha test :)

The others, which wanna try out the game to see if its worth to buy, should wait for the demo.

[antoineflemming 14]

if it's going to be that, then don't do it by years, but by number of forum posts and years. some have been here for a long time, but have done very little with that. especially if they want a much smaller number of people testing it, then only allow those with more than 3000 posts or something like that, IF they are to adopt your line of thinking. because you know people who have 3000+ posts have been here for some time. yeah, i know that would exclude you from the alpha :'(, but at least we would have assurance that ONLY the most longterm AND extremely dedicated fans would test the ALPHA...

[Przemek_kondor 13]

Or only moderators with 3000+ posts and join date before 2003

[antoineflemming 14]

If it's only moderators (a relative handful of people), then can we really call it a Community Alpha?

Seriously, though, I was being sarcastic with that post.

I think the idea is crap. And, conveniently, KrAziKilla has been here for over 3 yrs. But, uh, why do I have a larger post count that KrAziKilla? There's guys who joined in 2001 and have like only 2 posts. Sorry, but years isn't a sufficient criteria to determine who gets to test an Alpha and who doesn't. And, in case you think that I'm being selfish here and trying to suggest that I get special privilege to participate in an alpha based off of my time (like someone else who recently posted) or posts, I know I haven't been on the forums that long, or have a lot of posts, so I know that, following what I posted, I'd be excluded. Because, if we really want to try to talk about a measure of dedication to ArmA and to BIS (which is what a time restriction is really about), then let's be realistic and look at something that is a much better judge of dedication. Because, no offense KrAziKilla, but your being here for 4 years doesn't mean much to me when you've got a post count that could be achieved in about 4 months (and that's just based off of my 466 posts achieved in 8 months). So what does that mean? a 4 month post count spread over 4 years? Hmmm, so, about a month's worth of posts per year. about 30 days worth out of 365. a day's worth out of a month (360/30). That's not a lack of dedication, but there are clearly members here (not talking about myself), who have shown more dedication than that. PuFu, for example, has been here only about a year longer than you. Not THAT much longer. 4,204 compared to 239. Not saying that you aren't dedicated. But, if we're going to try to judge by dedication to BIS/ArmA, then let's accurately judge that (if you can really even do that). Because I wouldn't put you and PuFu in the same category or say that you are just as dedicated as PuFu. That's just going off of forum stats.

As I said, I don't think that's the best way to determine who gets into alpha/beta.

Edited February 29, 2012 by antoineflemming

[pathetic_berserker 4]

^^ hey what about the dedication of addon makers, that must be like a gizillion points or sumfin'

I rekon just about anyone who is still reading this thread will probably play the Alpha, pre-order, buy all the future DLCs' and continue bitching about how bitch'n BIS stuff is to raise thier post counts till eternity, no matter how inter-conected it all is.

But what I realy wanted to say was I think its geat that BIS are releasing a community Alpha.

My problem now is waiting till after E3.

Edited February 29, 2012 by Pathetic_Berserker

[Steakslim 1]

This whole thread...

[antoineflemming 14]

^^ hey what about the dedication of addon makers, that must be like a gizillion points or sumfin'

I rekon just about anyone who is still reading this thread will probably play the Alpha, pre-order, buy all the future DLCs' and continue bitching about how bitch'n BIS stuff is to raise thier post counts till eternity, no matter how inter-conected it all is.

But what I realy wanted to say was I think its geat that BIS are releasing a community Alpha.

My problem now is waiting till after E3.

http://www.musicpicture.net/image/terror-5.jpg

This whole thread...

@Steakslim: LOL

@Pathetic_Berserker Yeah, if anything, addon makers should get in if there's a dedication thing. But, that's why I don't think it should be based on that. That said, your comment is really the only discussion that should be here. This little Alpha delivery method discussion has really hijacked the thread. I for one apologize. You really put it in perspective. Ultimately, thank you BIS for even deciding to give the community an alpha and a beta to test.

[PuFu 4591]

I think the idea is crap. And, conveniently, KrAziKilla has been here for over 3 yrs. But, uh, why do I have a larger post count that KrAziKilla?

Might as well spammed the forums a bit more...?

There's guys who joined in 2001 and have like only 2 posts. Sorry, but years isn't a sufficient criteria to determine who gets to test an Alpha and who doesn't.

neither is post count, let's make that clear...

So what does that mean? a 4 month post count spread over 4 years? Hmmm, so, about a month's worth of posts per year. about 30 days worth out of 365. a day's worth out of a month (360/30). That's not a lack of dedication, but there are clearly members here (not talking about myself), who have shown more dedication than that. PuFu, for example, has been here only about a year longer than you. Not THAT much longer. 4,204 compared to 239. Not saying that you aren't dedicated. But, if we're going to try to judge by dedication to BIS/ArmA, then let's accurately judge that (if you can really even do that). Because I wouldn't put you and PuFu in the same category or say that you are just as dedicated as PuFu. That's just going off of forum stats.

really dude, the post count is NOT, by any standards a criteria.

There are a lot of lads around here who CARE about that shit,

but 99% of what the time spent on those boards can be considered spam.

Please move on....

[krazikilla 5]

Lol, i love hoe people get into it,

my first post a few sides earlier was ment seriously.

I am a bit worried of people who will see the alpha as a demo and if its bugged (ye it will be most likly) they will drop the game and not buy it.

The 2nd post with the 3 year forum member was just a joke to show off the stupidness of the discussion here ;)

I see 2 solutions:

-Either BIS makes a really well alpha, with less bugs and provides it to everybody with even 1 obstacle to overstep. So it can be used as demo/tech demo.

- BIS brings in 1 step between, so they dont have a lot of clueless people downloading alpha and then whinging about it. (1 Step like: preorder, forum member, a small alpha-test forum, etc.)

Anyway i hope BIS will make the right desicion.

Now please stop this useless discussion before this nice thread gets closed, lol.

Lets be happy that we get new information and a alpha version around june of this splendid game!

---------- Post added at 12:39 ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 ----------

*edit*

sry for some reason my edit/Save Button is not working, so:

i meaned to write:

-Lol, i love HOW people get into it,

- ..provides it to everybody WITHOUT even 1 obstacle...

- ..alpha and then WHINING about it...

[NoRailgunner 0]

Are you sure that people who "OMG, can't wait!!" + preorder a game have a clue about testing? ;) Imo its better if BIS find some time to test/play A3 long before release and don't "outsource" it completely. Don't want to see + read "ambitious game had a unfortunate release once again..."

[antoineflemming 14]

Might as well spammed the forums a bit more...?

neither is post count, let's make that clear...

http://i.imgur.com/EkibO.jpg

really dude, the post count is NOT, by any standards a criteria.

There are a lot of lads around here who CARE about that shit,

but 99% of what the time spent on those boards can be considered spam.

Please move on....

That's why I said in parenthesis "If you can really even do that". My point, if you read the whole post, was that trying to determine who gets in based off of an amount of dedication (not sure what else a year count would entail) was stupid. All I was saying was that post count is a better judge than years. That doesn't mean that post count is in anyway truly reflective of dedication. My point was to show the fallacy in the argument. That's why I said that all of this was just based on stats. Hence, why I said at the beginning "I think the idea is crap". That wasn't just about the years thing. It was about the whole judge dedication thing. I'll quote myself, very LAST thing I said in the post:

As I said, I don't think that's the best way to determine who gets into alpha/beta.

As in basing it off of amount of dedication is not the best way to determine who gets in. JUST like someone's willingness to pre-order isn't an accurate judge of whether they actually have a genuine interest in testing the alpha as opposed to treating it like a demo. The point of ALL my posts here is to show that we can make whatever assumptions we want concerning who's most qualified to test, who should test, who doesn't really want to test, but at the end of the day it's just assumptions, therefore the only sure way to judge the move BIS should make is if BIS evaluates the relative success or failure of the TOH Community Alpha. So you COMPLETELY missed the point of my posts. +1 for reading comprehension. Stop being so eager to rip a post apart because it doesn't agree with your preferences and take the time to actually understand what someone is posting.

@KrAziKilla, thanks for clarifying your post. Honestly thought you were dead serious.

@NoRailgunner, that's my point. willingness to pre-order does not equal qualification/commitment to genuinely testing the game.

Edited February 29, 2012 by antoineflemming

[dmarkwick 261]

I think there's another drift into imagination going on: a public beta does not mean replacement of official testing strategies. Only an augmentation of it.

[royaltyinexile 175]

I think there's another drift into imagination going on: a public beta does not mean replacement of official testing strategies. Only an augmentation of it.

A pertinent observation. The PC Gamer interview perhaps highlights this aspect with more clarity; Quote Dan Musil:

We’re not seeking overly specific feedback—I mean a missing screw here and there, it’s fundamentally our job to retain the quality of our game – the goal is to identify and neutralise important stability issues, across the big range of hardware combinations our there.

It will, of course, be up to us to clearly communicate the goals of any public releases and allay/ dismiss/ accept any concerns. There has been a lot of interesting and useful observations so far in this thread. :)

Best,

RiE

[wolfbite 8]

I'll Ro sham bo you all for it..... I go first....

[On_Sabbatical 11]

Cool !

Will make sure i test all the aspects of the game :D

[bradhunt5 1]

I'd like to take part in the Alpha as well :)

[SWAT_BigBear 0]

My PC is the oldest, I got dibs on the download link :)

[krazikilla 5]

hi bradhunt5, wlecome to the forums :)

why you want to take part in the alpha?

[NeMeSiS 11]

http://www.musicpicture.net/image/terror-5.jpg

This whole thread...

That sums it up.

[pellejones 1]

aaahahahaha this is the best thread ever :D I love the "you have to have been here for 3+ years and have 3000 posts to get the alpha!" haha :D

[froggyluv 2130]

Frankly I don't care how they go about making requirements for Alpha -paid, free, chest hairs...whatever Imma grab it ASAP. To suggest people only want it to say how kewl they are is silly. I bought Overgrowth Alpha merely to watch a game grow and wow myself at the many animation/hit effects/ragdoll that they achieve on a weekly basis -never once feeling the need to post on their forums to gloat. I don't even like the game but love the technology running it :)

One thing that I noticed after ARMA2 release is the many Campaign/scenario bug complaints which later "matured" into "the damn game's broken..."

I and probably many others would be happy with the Editor alone and BIS could highlight "NO MISSIONS!" everywhere so hopefully only those that want to test the tech alone would be interested. Of course some sort of benchmarking mission would be deemed necessary but no need to advertise that. Also why waste time with arbitrary Demo missions that will inevitably be ripped to pieces by conventional 'FPS diehards'.

[paecmaker 23]

Before people are able to download the alpha(or whatever) they need to do a quiz if they know that its just an alpha and not the final product and so on.

[purepassion 22]

aaahahahaha this is the best thread ever :D I love the "you have to have been here for 3+ years and have 3000 posts to get the alpha!" haha :D

Exactly! I mean, your post count clearly shows you are not a fan of Arma and thus don't deserve to take part in the Alpha and Beta! :D

Anyways, the jokes, or better the

interesting observations

aside, I am really glad the team decided to make new features available one after one. This way it is much easier to test precisely and tell differences in performance. And that represents a huge immediate testbed for BIS. :)

I have one question tough. I really think that Limnos is a very beautiful and important element of Arma 3 and I would like to have it "saved" for the final game. You know, for the ":omg:" effect when you jump in the editor for the first time.

But on the other hand, it would be better to include the island to be able to judge performance more precisely. Hmm... I think I will be surprised by the Team's decision :)

[antoineflemming 14]

aaahahahaha this is the best thread ever :D I love the "you have to have been here for 3+ years and have 3000 posts to get the alpha!" haha :D

Exactly! I mean, your post count clearly shows you are not a fan of Arma and thus don't deserve to take part in the Alpha and Beta! :D

Anyways, the jokes, or better the aside, I am really glad the team decided to make new features available one after one. This way it is much easier to test precisely and tell differences in performance. And that represents a huge immediate testbed for BIS. :)

I have one question tough. I really think that Limnos is a very beautiful and important element of Arma 3 and I would like to have it "saved" for the final game. You know, for the ":omg:" effect when you jump in the editor for the first time.

But on the other hand, it would be better to include the island to be able to judge performance more precisely. Hmm... I think I will be surprised by the Team's decision :)

Wait, you guys did realize that the years and posts ideas were sarcasm, right?

[-Coulum- 35]

To me it doesn't matter how its distributed, as long as I can get my hands on it. If there is really a need to only get "dedicated players" make it pre-order and require OA. But I think that simply making it clear that it is an alpha will be good enough. Ie. on the main menu it reades Arma 3 ALPHA. and every time you shut the alpha down it will prompt you with "are there any bugs from the alpha that you would like to report or support?" and provide you with a form that you can fill out then and there and send to BI.

I have one question tough. I really think that Limnos is a very beautiful and important element of Arma 3 and I would like to have it "saved" for the final game. You know, for the "" effect when you jump in the editor for the first time.

I agree with you there. I wan't to "save Limnos for when the game is finally done as its one of the biggest feautures of the A3. I hope that there is a test island in the alpha. But at the same time I don't want limnos to suffer from poor performance due to lack of testing. Oh well I'll be happy however the devs decide to do it.

Edited March 2, 2012 by -Coulum-