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[worldalpha]

My game is probably about 1 month away from alpha-testing, and probably 3 months away from widespread beta-testing. I'm looking for suggestions about the right way to garner alpha and beta testers for my game.
 
It is going to be a web-based MMORTS, so obviously, I need a good number of gamers on the site, to really test it out. Any suggestions? I haven't come across sites, that are specifically set-up to help developers connect with potential beta-testers.
 
Any help in this area would be appreciated.
 
Thanks,
 
Mike
 
Creating an MMORTS http://www.worldalpha.com

[Paul Eres]

if you need a huge number of them (say, thousands) your best bet would be to send out a press release to journalists asking them to write a story about how you need beta testers (provided your game looks good enough to catch their attention)

if you only need a few dozen, i'd suggest just asking on forums, and asking friends and family

[allen]

join a gaming community and actively participate and contribute. people will help you.

don't expect much help here. you don't deserve it.

these guys would probably be more helpful:
http://forums.indiegamer.com

[thevillageidiot]

don't expect much help here. you don't deserve it.

Why are you such an elitist asshole?

[kamac]

don't expect much help here. you don't deserve it.

 

[Fanotherpg]

Check other games, sometimes in credits there are mentioned betatesters or at least lead testers (I was in such position several times) so it's always good to take someone with experience.

[Paul Eres]

don't expect much help here. you don't deserve it.

Why are you such an elitist asshole?

better than signing up to a forum just to insult someone (or creating a smurf account)

anyway what i think allen meant was: please introduce yourself first and help others test their games if you want others to test your game. he just said it allen-style

[thevillageidiot]

better than signing up to a forum just to insult someone (or creating a smurf account)

anyway what i think allen meant was: please introduce yourself first and help others test their games if you want others to test your game. he just said it allen-style

Oh, I'm sorry. Was I being too rude? I just said it thevillageidiot-style.

[Paul Eres]

yeah but i know allen and nobody knows who thevillageidiot is, so i'm more accepting of allen's rudeness than a new person's (since i'm used to it). just like the community is more accepting of playtesting the games of contributing members to a forum rather than playtesting the games of people who joined a forum just to get playtesters and don't seem to be interested in doing that service in return

in any case the bottom line is if you want playtesters you have to be willing to participate in a community, playtest the games of other people in the community, etc.

[handCraftedRadio]

or give them money.

It seems like a very difficult problem you have here. I've always wondered how people were able to test large scale mmo games or even any multilayer game with more than, say, 4 people. I guess this is why there aren't very many indie mmos out there (that i know of). It seems pretty much the only way to get testers is to make your game cool enough to get followers who really want to play it, which we all know is one of the easiest things to do (actually it isn't.)

[thevillageidiot]

yeah but i know allen and nobody knows who thevillageidiot is, so i'm more accepting of allen's rudeness than a new person's (since i'm used to it).

So what you're saying is this: I can't be rude, because you (Paul Eres) don't know me. When did this become about you? Who cares if you are forgiving? I'm pretty sure worldalpha has no idea who allen is either. So try show a little respect to people. Just try. It won't hurt.

[Paul Eres]

i don't remember saying you can't be rude; i was just explaining what i thought allen meant, not remarking on you being rude. i apologize if you thought i was calling you rude in any way

i didn't even pay any mind to the politeness level of your post at all, except to note that it's strange that you signed up to a forum just to post how you felt about allen's comment, and it seems strange to me that someone would put that much effort into something like that

[Inanimate]

don't expect much help here. you don't deserve it.

Why are you such an elitist asshole?

He means that, if you want help, you have to show that you actually intend to help the community back. Showing up just to take some beta-testers or whatever isn't "deserving" it -- that's just using the community for your own ends.

It didn't seem very rude to me.

[Paul Eres]

you're also assuming he's not a spambot -- look at the links in his sig and post, why does he need to link to his site twice? why link to a 'mmo review' site, not to his game's site?

[Falmil]

You seem to know a lot about him.