Blacklisted Betas instead of Whitelisted Betas!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal-to-noise_ratio

Read the first few paragraphs as to why it applies to forums, read the rest for the scientific theory behind the phrase.

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Worse signal to noise ratio.

More specifically, the fact that the first wave of user Beta testers are usually hand-picked from those that have proven themselves good, focused testers who are more likely to stick to the script and not delve into massive debates and flame wars. This is not the case with open betas, as even the most focused eventually get dragged into "NO U!" debates by the sheer weight of the masses. I've seen it happen in practically every Beta I've been in, which is why I'll never fault Paragon Studios for not inviting me.

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.

Because most of them are there for "Ooh! Shiny!"

Closed beta is about directed testing.

They don't just want "feedback" of a couple of pre-chosen choices. They're looking for "This is broken. This is what it's doing. Here's how it was tested. Here's exactly what's wrong. Here's a suggestion on how to fix it."

You can't get that level of detail from a forum poll.

Again, quality over quantity.

They're looking for structured feedback from people who've proven they know how to supply it.

Later, they can let more people in for the hunting of more obvious bugs.

There's also the fact that in a lot of cases, early betas are NOT pretty.
CO was like that (unfortunately it didn't get much better). Giving everybody and their brother access to early beta can scare some people because they forget that this is rough code. NOT the shipping game. It can then generate lots of negative publicity for them. Then, when the polished version of the product comes out, people run away from it because of their initial impressions of the beta.

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Point me to the redname post that said that.

Because the greater number of people typically *don't.* They're there to go "oooh, look!" and do a lot of talking. The focused reporting needed early on tends to get lost in the noise, and the direction of testing requested gets ignored. The difference between an early closed beta and a late closed beta, as far as what's talked about, how it's talked about and such is quite different - and even moreso when it goes from closed to open, where frankly I'd be surprised if it's seen as anything more than a stress test.
Sure, if you want "Do you like red or blue better?" When you need more detail, no, they aren't anywhere near as valuable.
Again, you don't know you were the first to post about any specific bug. It might have been the first post you saw on the forums - but others may have /bugged it, plus, frankly, there were still closed betas earlier (before it was released to us - call them alphas.)

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Well that explains a lot.

Originally Posted by Arcanaville Samuel_Tow is the only poster that makes me want to punch him in the head more often when I'm agreeing with him than when I'm disagreeing with him.