Could the future Total War title take use of a BETA?

[Salvator]

As the title says, could Total War actually take advantage of having a BETA to test out things like bugs and balancing issues for the upcoming installment?

In my opinion it could really make the difference between waiting for the first patches or play it on release. The Total War franchise has suffered greatly because of the bugs that showed up and still show up in Empire or Shogun 2.
So I am in favor of having a beta to sort things out first.

[AlfonsoVIII]

yes a public beta would introduce alot more players than the demo did. it allows one to view the entire game and then make a decision or whether or not to buy. Playing the demo was worthless in determining if i would buy it or not. more of a turn off actually.

[Greve Af Göteborg]

I see no disadvantages in using a beta.

[rob-a-dogg]

I see no disadvantages in using a beta.

They wont be able to trick people into paying for the beta whilst calling it the full game. It would ruin CAs business model.

They are already releasing BETAs. The thing is, we are paying them to be able to test it and then they release patches. It takes them about a year of our paid BETA testing to make the game as it supposed to be, then they are releasing another BETA of upgraded TW engine and patching starts anew.

Tell that to Empire and its Expansion (also sold as a full game) Napoleon. Both are still messes, Empire more so.

[Doge Domenico]

I doubt CA will do this, it would throw off their business model.

[AceMcKillYoFace]

Could it? Yes

Will it? Most likely not

[Point_Man]

If only I wasn't restricted by CA to say things.

[BullGod]

They are already releasing BETAs. The thing is, we are paying them to be able to test it and then they release patches. It takes them about a year of our paid BETA testing to make the game as it supposed to be, then they are releasing another BETA of upgraded TW engine and patching starts anew.

[T.C.]

They already use internal betas, just cause you don't have access to it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[a tw player]

It already has a closed beta.

[Point_Man]

It already has a closed beta.

Don't say nothing more...or you'll get terminated.

[emotion_name]

As mentioned, they already do closed betas. I know of about 6 or 7 people who were MP Beta testers for S2TW, no doubt there were many more.

Apparantly, CA swears them to secrecy and they are not allowed to mention that they are Beta testers or produce screenies etc, but with most it seemed to be a bragging point.

I say 6 or 7 as these people told me things about S2TW MP ages before release, that were not mentioned in any interview, and upon me buying the game the info they gave was confirmed as true.

What they need is an open beta, but i doubt they would do it.

I would be happy to pay a small fee, say, £2.99 or £3.99 (cost of most DLC for TW titles) to have access to the beta copy and give feedback, im sure loads of others would as well, whihc may entice CA some! Who knows?

[Rorarii]

I was a beta tester for ETW but CA was very restrictive, i had to sign my house over and everything .. (hope they aren't trashing it!)

Seriously, most PC game companies release Alphas these days .. get the money in first then try to see if it runs!

R

[danfromiran]

for me new games are too expensive to buy (50$), so by the time I wait for their prices to drop (to 20$ or 30$) they have already released some patches and bug fixes. but I have to agree that Empire is still pretty bad

[bangell99]

I can see why CA wouldn't want an open beta - many studios don't do open betas. However, it's got to the point where the Total War series has been so full of mistakes, and has consistently disappointed the community, that the only thing that can be done is to let the community have an open beta. If CA listened to the feedback and implemented and changed what the community wanted during the beta phase, then there wouldn't be so much whining on the forums.

[Dubh the dark]

In the first few weeks after release of a new game the technical forum on this site is an important source of information.

I only wish the closed beta was expanded and the TWC tech-heads could be given a chance to create detailed feedback before release.

It would mean a lot less initial bugs to arrrggg us all.

[Salvator]

The title might be missleading. Of course I know that there is a closed Beta. There has to be a Beta for every game.
What I mean is that this closed Beta is not enough to ensure a smoothly running game.

[T.C.]

The title might be missleading. Of course I know that there is a closed Beta. There has to be a Beta for every game.
What I mean is that this closed Beta is not enough to ensure a smoothly running game.

The games have all been running smoothly at release since Empire. i.e for the last two years.

[Dubh the dark]

The games have all been running smoothly at release since Empire. i.e for the last two years.

Do you honestly believe that, or was it sarcasm?

If not I think a lot of us would disagree.

[Salvator]

Sadly one not for everyone.