As a software developer, I've been a beta tester for many software products. This is GREAT IDEA. Let me respectfully address the objections.
Having a beta version on XBOX Live should be no different than having a demo version. I very confident the bean counters and IT guys at MS can be persuaded. The beta/demo could be limited to approved XBLA gamer tags. This would use MS built system for software "purchases" so all the technology to do this already exists on XBOX Live.
Read the credits on any major game and you will find an army of betta testers listed. Contrary to other opinions posted, having a bunch of free beta testers always reduces the time between updates, because releases are actually feature releases and the post release bug fixs are largely eliminated.
J4 spent 6 weeks fixing the bugs after the Xmas Update. My self I would prefer not to build a new world and constaintly have to deal with bugs.
Top 5 Advantages:
5. Enthusiastic Free Labor.
4. Minecraft reputation is improved.
3. J4 and Mojang reputation is maintained.
2. Far fewer miffed customers.
AND #1. Quality is improved -- Time to market is decreased.
As a software developer, I've been a beta tester for many software products. This is GREAT IDEA. Let me respectfully address the objections.
Having a beta version on XBOX Live should be no different than having a demo version. I very confident the bean counters and IT guys at MS can be persuaded. The beta/demo could be limited to approved XBLA gamer tags. This would use MS built system for software "purchases" so all the technology to do this already exists on XBOX Live.
Read the credits on any major game and you will find an army of betta testers listed. Contrary to other opinions posted, having a bunch of free beta testers always reduces the time between updates, because releases are actually feature releases and the post release bug fixs are largely eliminated.
J4 spent 6 weeks fixing the bugs after the Xmas Update. My self I would prefer not to build a new world and constaintly have to deal with bugs.
Top 5 Advantages:
5. Enthusiastic Free Labor.
4. Minecraft reputation is improved.
3. J4 and Mojang reputation is maintained.
2. Far fewer miffed customers.
AND #1. Quality is improved -- Time to market is decreased.
You will still have miffed customers... That is always the case. There is always something that a customer will complain about. There also will be still bugs no matter how you look at it. Some will take longer to fix than others. As well some to even narrow down the cause. Sure what you say is true for the most half, except the 2 points I mentioned.
For me neither 4J or majong's rep has gone down, not even minecraft... But that is just me...
As far as the #1 thing, that is variable depending on the bugs/glitches that need fixing or are even noticed.... All depends on how much time it takes to narrow down each cumulatively and fix hoping it doesn't cause even more side effects that are bad or worse. Then the process starts over again. So it is not a guarantee that it will hit market sooner... Just a chance(%).
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
My First World, always getting back to is a pleasure I enjoy with each new update that brings in more things to add in.
Releasing a game like Minecraft (on any platform) is more complicated than a normal game. Most games have developement cycles of years. Beta testing is done on a more stable version way after it has been in developement for those years. Often for console games beta testing is entirely in-house. Minecraft was released in an alpha version and has had consistent updates through a beta version and then a release version. Most games release one or two major updates or patches and then the life expectancy of the title is 4-5 years at best.
Minecraft is more like an MMO when it comes to how it gets released. It's a constantly changing, growing game. Having a beta version works when you can have a separate stable version of a game on a system, but then you have to release and update two different versions at a time. That doesn't work over Live because those updates come from Micro$oft and they charge game companies lots of money to release updates. I consider the bugfix updates to be the release version of a patch.
Thanks for the input. I think overall people here don't like the idea, some because they think it will make the updates take longer, and others because they think it will strain 4J and Microsoft too much. This is why I just had to post about it, to get a better idea of what the forum community thinks. Thanks again for your input! for everyone!
A company as big as Microsoft has no choice but to keep their ass tight or every tom, **** and harry would try to get a piece of it in whatever way they could. Microsoft isn't entirely to blame here, its greedy, consumers who think the company owes them a million dollars because their son got addicted to video games, ect...
A company as big as Microsoft has no choice but to keep their ass tight or every tom, **** and harry would try to get a piece of it in whatever way they could. Microsoft isn't entirely to blame here, its greedy, consumers who think the company owes them a million dollars because their son got addicted to video games, ect...
While I don't agree with some of their business practices, we should all be grateful for the smooth experience we get on Xbox Live. I wouldn't want to change that. Imagine how much worse our problems would be overall if it wasn't locked down so tight. PSN anyone?
While I don't agree with some of their business practices, we should all be grateful for the smooth experience we get on Xbox Live. I wouldn't want to change that. Imagine how much worse our problems would be overall if it wasn't locked down so tight. PSN anyone?
I've read the entire post, but rather than quote specific objections, I'll just summarize.
The Xbox is locked down to prevent hackers, viruses, worms, trojans, trolls, goblins and other assorted real world bad guys from wrecking a good thing. This is a good thing, place the blame on the bad guys where it belongs.
Warning: <rant>Unless you've actually read MS XBOX Live Developers Terms of Service, any opinions on what can and can't be done on the XBOX is just speculation. </rant>
It ALWAYS takes less time to do things right the first time. This is why Japan kicked American car companies in the woo hoo for such a long time, until they got with the QC program. It's been proven in business over and over so I will say no more.
QUALITY matters. Minecraft has an amazing community (as evidenced by this forum, youtube and so many other sites). They really can leverage that on the XBOX just as Mojang already does by releasing beta versions for the PC.
Minecraft sales in the millions and status as the most successful Indie game ever, means Mojang is no longer a small company, and are flush with cash. While the development teams at Mojang and J4 seem relatively small, most games are pioneered by small talented teams. What they've achieved is amazing. IMHO the can and should use this amazing community to beta test.
Again Kudos to J4. Considering the daunting task of translating MC Java into MCXBOX C+, making apropriate interface changes, and shoe-horning it all into a 4 year old inadequate system. I think they done a great job.
I just never want to see an update like TU7 again and will be happy to wait a few extra weeks and avoid the aggravation.
My 2 cents.
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Having a beta version on XBOX Live should be no different than having a demo version. I very confident the bean counters and IT guys at MS can be persuaded. The beta/demo could be limited to approved XBLA gamer tags. This would use MS built system for software "purchases" so all the technology to do this already exists on XBOX Live.
Read the credits on any major game and you will find an army of betta testers listed. Contrary to other opinions posted, having a bunch of free beta testers always reduces the time between updates, because releases are actually feature releases and the post release bug fixs are largely eliminated.
J4 spent 6 weeks fixing the bugs after the Xmas Update. My self I would prefer not to build a new world and constaintly have to deal with bugs.
Top 5 Advantages:
5. Enthusiastic Free Labor.
4. Minecraft reputation is improved.
3. J4 and Mojang reputation is maintained.
2. Far fewer miffed customers.
AND #1. Quality is improved -- Time to market is decreased.
You will still have miffed customers... That is always the case. There is always something that a customer will complain about. There also will be still bugs no matter how you look at it. Some will take longer to fix than others. As well some to even narrow down the cause. Sure what you say is true for the most half, except the 2 points I mentioned.
For me neither 4J or majong's rep has gone down, not even minecraft... But that is just me...
As far as the #1 thing, that is variable depending on the bugs/glitches that need fixing or are even noticed.... All depends on how much time it takes to narrow down each cumulatively and fix hoping it doesn't cause even more side effects that are bad or worse. Then the process starts over again. So it is not a guarantee that it will hit market sooner... Just a chance(%).
Thanks for the input! Its nice to get people from the game development industry to chime in with their opinions, good or bad. Thanks again guys!
But... 4J Steve loves us.
Minecraft is more like an MMO when it comes to how it gets released. It's a constantly changing, growing game. Having a beta version works when you can have a separate stable version of a game on a system, but then you have to release and update two different versions at a time. That doesn't work over Live because those updates come from Micro$oft and they charge game companies lots of money to release updates. I consider the bugfix updates to be the release version of a patch.
Thanks for the input. I think overall people here don't like the idea, some because they think it will make the updates take longer, and others because they think it will strain 4J and Microsoft too much. This is why I just had to post about it, to get a better idea of what the forum community thinks. Thanks again for your input!
I know, TU8 was supposed to be just a bug fix, but ended up just as buggy as TU7. That is what prompted this idea.
While I don't agree with some of their business practices, we should all be grateful for the smooth experience we get on Xbox Live. I wouldn't want to change that. Imagine how much worse our problems would be overall if it wasn't locked down so tight. PSN anyone?
+1
The Xbox is locked down to prevent hackers, viruses, worms, trojans, trolls, goblins and other assorted real world bad guys from wrecking a good thing. This is a good thing, place the blame on the bad guys where it belongs.
Warning: <rant>Unless you've actually read MS XBOX Live Developers Terms of Service, any opinions on what can and can't be done on the XBOX is just speculation. </rant>
It ALWAYS takes less time to do things right the first time. This is why Japan kicked American car companies in the woo hoo for such a long time, until they got with the QC program. It's been proven in business over and over so I will say no more.
QUALITY matters. Minecraft has an amazing community (as evidenced by this forum, youtube and so many other sites). They really can leverage that on the XBOX just as Mojang already does by releasing beta versions for the PC.
Minecraft sales in the millions and status as the most successful Indie game ever, means Mojang is no longer a small company, and are flush with cash. While the development teams at Mojang and J4 seem relatively small, most games are pioneered by small talented teams. What they've achieved is amazing. IMHO the can and should use this amazing community to beta test.
Again Kudos to J4. Considering the daunting task of translating MC Java into MCXBOX C+, making apropriate interface changes, and shoe-horning it all into a 4 year old inadequate system. I think they done a great job.
I just never want to see an update like TU7 again and will be happy to wait a few extra weeks and avoid the aggravation.
My 2 cents.