And so the rumors were true! The game testing for Star Wars: The Old Republic has begun. A few weeks ago, I wrote about how there were rumors that the testing had already begun–and it is quite possible that it had–but now BioWare released an update saying that testing was, in fact, underway. While we all knew this somewhere inside, now it is confirmed.
What I am finding very interesting about their testing is that they are doing it in phases. Perhaps other games do it the same way, but I think it is really going to be an effective way of doing it. They had this to say:
Game Testing is an on-going process being rolled out in several phases. These phases began with smaller, more focused tests with community members from North America, and later will expand to other territories. Users selected for the test program will be notified via email with more information on accessing the Game Testing Portal. If you’ve not been chosen yet, you may be selected in the next wave!
They are going to start with very small groups and then expand. So, their first step is to find the large bugs that might not have been found in Alpha testing. So, the small groups will go around and when they find that the big alien can’t be destroyed, they’ll note that so BioWare can go in and fix it. But, these small groups won’t stress the servers at all. The rumors posted a few weeks ago suggested this type of system with only around 200 people testing.
As the game testing expands, they’ll begin to find what levels of people start to stress the servers out. With their latest reveal about Monolith-Monitoring for TOR, they will definitely get the information they need during testing to try and alleviate the launch problems that most games are cursed with.
One of the things that I can truly appreciate about BioWare is that they do reveal amazing games. Because of that, I am confident that this testing is really going to do a good thing. And, when the game is released, while there will be problems–there are always problems–I am confident that the game will be less glitchy than many others.
If you get the email asking you to be a tester, that’s fantastic. If you don’t, that’s alright. Rest easy knowing that those that do get the job will do the best they can to make the game you get to experience that much greater. And, if you are chosen to test, please do your job the best way you can. The better you work, the better the game will be for us. And, the harder you work, the sooner we can get the game.
