REAL Closed Beta Information

UPDATED 4-2-10: Attention all eager for open beta!

Many of you are noticing that the Test Server updater is not working as normal. I'm sure it would help the situation get sorted out more quickly by the devs if everyone not in the CB would stop trying to connect the servers to update when they have no need to at this time. Please be considerate and patient as this is going on. All of us will have the new shiny toys on live when they are ready!

Plus I want to mention that there are six threads all together towards the top of the Training Room Forums that are talking about the SAME THING! It's really starting to junk up this portion of the forums... Just saying. I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, just suggesting. Hope all are well and remember the word PATIENCE!

Message from Avatea http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showp...&postcount=192

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avatea All, I just wanted to let you know that we are not quite ready for Open Beta yet. We will be sure to let you know when we are, there certainly seems to be a few people on here who can't wait to get their hands on the new content and I don't blame them In the meantime, thank you for your patience while our developers work hard (and don't take naps) at smoothing things out so you can experience Issue 17 in all its glory!

UPDATES ADDED OR CHANGED 3-10-2010 ARE NOTED AS SUCH.

Before anyone speculates the purpose of the following thread it is only here for information that is getting skewed by the public at the moment. I am in no way affiliated with NCsoft nor do I have any secret source of information. All of the following information has come from official announcements or specifically are marked as my speculations. Please do not take offense by this thread as it is for information purposes.

Since everyone seems to have a problem with understanding what is going on right now this should sum it up for you:

No one on these forums minus the Devs and those in the Closed Beta know what is in Closed Beta at this time. One could speculate all day on what you think it is about and what you think should be in it, but the fact of the matter is no one knows, or no one knows that CAN tell us. If you ask about CB as this point it means that you aren't going to get an answer you want. I want to know the same as the next guy or gal about closed beta, but the cold hard fact is that nobody knows that can tell.

Things I do KNOW about the Closed Beta:

-The closed beta that is current is not GR. GR is the entire expansion coming out in July 2010. The closed beta for GR will be later on but obviously will NOT include Dual Pistols or Demon Summoning since one is already available and the other will be in April to PRE-PURCHASE CUSTOMERS ONLY.

-The current Closed Beta does not use the Loyalty Program described here: http://www.cityofheroes.com/news/new..._and_thin.html
The official announcement states that only GR Closed Beta will use the Loyalty Program. No other Closed Beta was included in the description, which means no guaranteed Closed Beta access for anyone on the upcoming Issue 17.

My speculation was remove and replaced with Zombie Man Quote 3-10-2010

Words of wisdom from Zombie Man:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zombie Man Correction: The Dual Pistols Closed Beta did include the Loyalty, HeroCon, and Veteran rewards program. See here. The Normal Process: The normal way of going about Closed Beta is to invite players in waves. A too large number of people coming in right away creates problems: 1. The Test Server is not set up to handle the volume of all the other servers combined at once. (Note that the Dual Pistols Closed Beta had long queues to log in.) 2. Test code is often 'non-optimized' code. Meaning that it's rough and shaky and fragile. Too many people can cause lots of server hang ups. 3. Too many people at once all /bugging the same bugs creates wasted effort on the part of the player and with Quality Assurance trying to go through all the bug reports. 4. Getting initial feedback from thousands of players at once is overwhelming to the Devs. They just can't read all that feedback or respond. Thus, a representative sample of the player base starts off. Then every 2-7 days, a new wave gets invited in. Who Gets In? 1. We generally don't know. The Devs don't tell us. In fact, they've specifically said they *won't* tell us. The reason they gave is that they don't want people 'farming' a specific behavior. E.g., if one of the criteria was "sent in over 50 /bug reports", then, given human nature, some players would send in 50 bogus /bug reports to guarantee themselves a spot in Closed Beta. 2. What do we know about who gets in? Each time, a random sampling of players get in, including those who've never sent in a bug report, who've never been in Closed Beta before, or even ever been on the Test Server before! The Devs most definitely *do not* want to hear from the same exact group every time. Nor do they want to hear from only 'fanbois.' We've seen some of the most vocal critics of the Devs get into a Closed Beta early with actual forum posts saying, "How did *you* get in?!" There were a few times when the Devs went on record about specific groups getting in to Closed Beta. In Issue 13 a large number of PvPers were invited into the first wave to test the PvP rebalancing. It was said their participation was... contentious. In Issue 14 a smaller number of PvPers were invited to the first waves for the continuation of PvP rebalancing. Issue 15 had an "Open Closed Beta" where anyone with a valid account could get in (basically, non-players couldn't read the Beta forums). And the Dual Pistols Closed Beta, as mentioned above, included the Loyalty and Veteran reward participants that will also be part of the Going Rogue Closed Beta. Obviously, Issue 16 Closed Beta has gone back to the practice we've seen for Issues 8 - 14. The small number that gets in the very first waves are usually those with a track record of producing quality in-game and forum feedback (as well as some random folks). These are people who will do things like run an arc every time it's updated to check that it's working right. These are people who don't say 'you suck!' when somethings not finished, they know that Closed Beta is work and they work. Those who don't, don't get invited back (so said Ghost Falcon). The Devs have said of a few Closed Betas that 'friends and family' are the first wave. Namely, their particular friends, family, and business associates -- not players. This phase has been known to last almost a week to just half a day before the first wave of players get invited. Since the Devs do not say this about every Closed Beta, it should not be assumed that every Closed Beta begins with just friends and family.

So it seems that DS closed beta will include the Loyalty Program if DP did. Don't get too excited yet though! According to this announcement: (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=211335) Only the I17 closed beta seems to be starting right now. I have not seen where DS for sure is in this beta. I'm not saying it's not I'm just saying I have seen no proof. Please contact me with proof if you find out otherwise.

Other facts that I know are for sure correct about the current state of affairs:

-Ultra Mode is no longer part of the GR line up. The Devs stated that if they could they would get it out sooner, which meant that it was never considered and exclusive part of GR by them. Once again they don't owe you anything when they test this in Closed Beta. Loyalty Program does not apply here. Sorry people!

-This was changed as of 3-10-2010 due to confusion of the wording.
DS is not part of I17, but is said to be released at the same time as or around the same time as I17. When DS is released regardless of when it is released you have to have a PRE-PURCHASE code from GR to use it. I speculate that if you try to make a MM after the release of DS and DO NOT have a PRE-PURCHASE code that Demon Summoning will be grayed out in the power selections just like Dual Pistols was before the PRE-PURCHASE was available on March 2nd.


-There will NOT be an increase in your monthly fee for the game. It will be $15 a month still for CoH/CoV/GR. It is all inclusive. The only thing you are paying for is the expansion. That is all about that.

-There is a lot if whining and complaining about the PRE-PURCHASE of GR. Here is my conclusion on this taken from another post I posted, think of A, B, & C as your purchase options:

Quote:

A) Pre-Purchase and get early access to DP and DS... 4 months in advance for DP and 3 months in advance for DS... all for $30 (This DOES NOT include CoH/CoV. This is mainly for current players only. If you do not already have a retail serial for the regular game you can't use the serial from this expansion PRE-PURCHASE) B) Buy Complete Edition at time of release and get a free month of game time and item pack included for $40. (Keep in mind that this also includes CoH & CoV. Any new player can buy the complete edition and not have to buy CoH/CoV seperate. On the same hand even people with the game currently can buy it and be fine, but new players will come out on top with this one as far as value.) C) Do A but also buy the item pack for an extra $10 (Most likely) So when it boils down to it you are paying $40 unless you just buy the base Expansion. This is not rocket science people! Pay $40 dollars and pick your perk: Early access to powers or Free month...

My take on this is if you have the money and you want to spend it on the game then do so. If money is tight, don't get on here and whine to everyone about it, just don't get the expansion. If my money was THAT tight I would probably not even pay the monthly subscription to play the game. Get a clue people and manage yo money smart! (Ok sorry had to throw a YO in there )



So all this being said I hope that this clarifies some stuff for some people. Sorry if any of these parts sound like I'm irritated, but I am lol. I am not irritated at those that don't know, I am irritated for those that have just taken the Devs words and twisted them or have someone tell the answer with proof and they still say they want Dev clarification.

If you have not been following these events very closely, I hope this thread keeps you from having to post another thread with the same questions. (Like everyone else has been doing...) There have been far too many threads on the forums all asking the same quesitons a different way. I hope this thread severs it's purpose in telling you this information so you don't have to go start your own thread asking the same stuff everyone else has. (That's what the search feature is for anyway...)

If anyone would like me to try to further clarify something I have said I would be more than happy to try, but keep in mind, unless I add something on here I forgot about, I don't know much more than this. I don't have a magical source for information. Also, please let me know if you think there is something else I should include in this that has some HARD FACTS with proof not just a suggestion.

ADDED 3-11-10:

Please DO NOT post anything on this thread that will break the NDA. Another thread where someone wanted to prove something wrong posted something from the NDA. I ask for official links and info and he posted something that I WILL NOT discuss here, but please if you are in the CB DO NOT post on the PUBLIC threads information about the CB. I don't want you to jeopardize your chances at ever getting in one again. No argument is worth the consequences unless you suddenly just decide that you don't care. If so please don't do it to me or this thread. Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Avatea: in Message Forum Rules and Guidelines 14. Posting Sensitive Information covered by a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) or Beta Testing Agreement. Please do not post any information on these boards that refers to or is information covered by a game’s NDA or any other NDA or is proprietary information of any party. Any information about a game or third party covered by an NDA or Beta Testing Agreement that is posted will be removed and the poster may be banned from the forum. Furthermore - if the post(s) is relating to an NCsoft game beta, the post(s) will be removed, and your account of the NCsoft beta of which you broke the Beta Testing Agreement may be closed.

Have a good day all!

P.S. If this thread helped you in any way please leave a comment! I would like to know I didn't type all this for nothing

It's sad that this thread was actually required. But you wrote it well.

Be prepared to link it when somebody else comes along to complain that their loyalty badges/60 month vet status aren't letting them in to the closed beta.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nethergoat it's NEVER too late to pad your /ignore list!

One thing I can point out: I got into the DP closed beta - I only got my 48 month vet badge at the end of January... so, even if it did not include everyone that was part of the Loyalty program, it must have included some of us. If not everyone in the Loyalty program got into DP closed beta, maybe they are going to get into the DS closed beta ... but that is PURELY PERSONAL SPECULATION.

Storm

I remember the days when Lighthouse had a simple fix for Beta speculation: if you ask devs to include you in closed beta in the public forums, you're blacklisted. (Okay, it was a joke... or was it?)

All the same, my sub ends tomorrow, and I'll miss out on the beta's anyway even though I wasn't a part of the loyalty program. I'll be in the no money boat myself.

Correction:

The Dual Pistols Closed Beta did include the Loyalty, HeroCon, and Veteran rewards program. See here.


The Normal Process:

The normal way of going about Closed Beta is to invite players in waves. A too large number of people coming in right away creates problems:

1. The Test Server is not set up to handle the volume of all the other servers combined at once. (Note that the Dual Pistols Closed Beta had long queues to log in.)

2. Test code is often 'non-optimized' code. Meaning that it's rough and shaky and fragile. Too many people can cause lots of server hang ups.

3. Too many people at once all /bugging the same bugs creates wasted effort on the part of the player and with Quality Assurance trying to go through all the bug reports.

4. Getting initial feedback from thousands of players at once is overwhelming to the Devs. They just can't read all that feedback or respond. Thus, a representative sample of the player base starts off. Then every 2-7 days, a new wave gets invited in.


Who Gets In?

1. We generally don't know. The Devs don't tell us. In fact, they've specifically said they *won't* tell us. The reason they gave is that they don't want people 'farming' a specific behavior. E.g., if one of the criteria was "sent in over 50 /bug reports", then, given human nature, some players would send in 50 bogus /bug reports to guarantee themselves a spot in Closed Beta.

2. What do we know about who gets in?

Each time, a random sampling of players get in, including those who've never sent in a bug report, who've never been in Closed Beta before, or even ever been on the Test Server before! The Devs most definitely *do not* want to hear from the same exact group every time. Nor do they want to hear from only 'fanbois.' We've seen some of the most vocal critics of the Devs get into a Closed Beta early with actual forum posts saying, "How did *you* get in?!"

There were a few times when the Devs went on record about specific groups getting in to Closed Beta. In Issue 13 a large number of PvPers were invited into the first wave to test the PvP rebalancing. It was said their participation was... contentious. In Issue 14 a smaller number of PvPers were invited to the first waves for the continuation of PvP rebalancing. Issue 15 had an "Open Closed Beta" where anyone with a valid account could get in (basically, non-players couldn't read the Beta forums). And the Dual Pistols Closed Beta, as mentioned above, included the Loyalty and Veteran reward participants that will also be part of the Going Rogue Closed Beta.

Obviously, Issue 16 Closed Beta has gone back to the practice we've seen for Issues 8 - 14.

The small number that gets in the very first waves are usually those with a track record of producing quality in-game and forum feedback (as well as some random folks). These are people who will do things like run an arc every time it's updated to check that it's working right. These are people who don't say 'you suck!' when somethings not finished, they know that Closed Beta is work and they work. Those who don't, don't get invited back (so said Ghost Falcon).

The Devs have said of a few Closed Betas that 'friends and family' are the first wave. Namely, their particular friends, family, and business associates -- not players. This phase has been known to last almost a week to just half a day before the first wave of players get invited. Since the Devs do not say this about every Closed Beta, it should not be assumed that every Closed Beta begins with just friends and family.

Good info, I was a little confused about that myself. I've got mixed feelings, now, about getting into betas. The DP one was my first one, and I got my DP blaster to about lvl 7 before I quit, and never went back. I guess I didn't want to spoil the "freshness" of playing it live, if that makes sense.

I think that I'd LIKE to get into a closed beta, maybe to feel "special", like I earned a reward, but then again, I don't know how far I'd go so as not to spoil things on Live. This one though, I think I'd like to see Ultra Mode, just to get a taste of what's coming. To tell the truth, I can't see much of a difference between the 2 photos that they used to compare Ultra and Standard modes...

Well put together forum of info, this should get stickied for usefulness in the future.

i wonder why dev's dont post a sticky about how beta works, NOT how they pick people for beta because i think that top secret for the most part. GR being the time they told us for the most part.

I'm sure the rage is because there seem to be a good number of people that prepurchased GR or paid account time they wouldn't have been playing, etc. to get into the GR closed beta specifically for Ultra Mode.

To which all I have to say is that you were doing it for the wrong reasons, because a sneak peek isn't the point of a closed beta.