What BETA Really Is

Most of us think BETA testing that newest game sounds like a lot of fun. Especially if it's WildStar. What many gamers who constantly chant and bribe for beta keys don't understand is….testing is tedious, sometimes even boring. Oh sure, it's great to get to see the game before everyone else (other than your fellow testers, of course), but the primary purpose of testing a game is to help find bugs and problems. Testers are looking for glitches in the images, textures, and other problems in the game that cause it to crash. In fact, those who are testing actively TRY to crash the game. It also involves taking a lot of detailed, comprehensive notes. The tediousness comes from playing through the same levels and places over and over and over again…sometimes hundreds of times.

Does your character fall through the fifth step up on a certain building? Does that huge creature over there make the game crash when you're trying to kill it? Does that same creature only make it crash when you lure it over to some other creatures, or when more than five players attack it? Kill it about a hundred times as many different ways as possible and make sure! Sick of having your character wiped? Too bad, it's necessary. Sick of playing the same instance? Sorry, do it again, please, and make sure to take great notes. It takes many hours of repetitive testing to get the game right, so think carefully before begging for that BETA key!