Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Beta Test?
2. What is the purpose of Atriarch's betatest?
3. Who can enter as a beta tester?
4. What can a beta tester expect to experience while testing Atriarch?
5. Knowing everything that can go wrong during betas, why would I still want to subject myself to testing?
6. What are the different beta testing stages for Atriarch?
7. What is expected from beta testers?
8. How are testers chosen?
9. What kind of support can beta testers expect?
10. What are the recommended requirements?

1. What is a beta test?
Each company defines beta testing differently, in terms of its scope, duration, and desired outcomes; this is especially prevalent in the "persistent online worlds" genre. Since World Fusion is a small company, we are asking for volunteers to assist in the testing of various issues (such as scalability and compatibility), as we can only test a certain number of permutations before requiring outside volunteers.

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2. What is the purpose of Atriarch's beta test?
The purpose of our test is to make the game as stable as possible by starting with a technical beta. We’ve tested the World Fusion Engine on a small scale, and now we require additional input to ensure that our assumptions and calculations for scalability and compatibility are on target.

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3. Who can enter as a beta tester?
Everyone is welcome to apply to beta test.  If you are selected, then you will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

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4. What can a beta tester expect to experience while testing Atriarch?
This is not a released product, and we want to be clear about what testers will experience. A tester should expect to experience bugs, extremely slow performance, bugs, lag, bugs, incomplete and missing features, bugs, lots of downtime, and bugs. The stage at which you decide to start testing will make a big difference in the magnitude and quantity of these. If you choose to test in the earliest stages, particularly the technical beta, then know what you are signing up for. If you want to wait until the later stages of testing, then you will have an experience closer to that of release.

Be advised that the test world may only be available during limited and/or scheduled testing hours.  This will all vary depending on the needs and resources of the test.

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5. Knowing everything that can go wrong during betas, why would I want to subject myself to beta testing?
There are in fact some reasons testing may be for you...

• You get to be one of the early insiders.
• You get to experience the development cycle and growth of a game firsthand.
• You gain experience testing games for those who are interested in moving into the game industry.
• Most of all, you help to make the game as bug free and stable as possible, so when it is released the focus can be on an immersive player experience.

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6. What are the different beta testing stages for Atriarch? What will be included in each of them?
There are currently four stages of testing planned. Each stage will have several phases.

• Stage 1 - Technical Beta
  This stage will focus on compatibility and technical issues. There will be no gameplay during this stage of testing. Testers will log on to a virtual world and test the various aspects of the World Fusion engine. Since we are a small company, we do not have thousands of different configurations and machines sitting here to test with. This is where we would like your help.
  
  
• Stage 2 - Modular Beta
  In stage 2, single gameplay elements will be tested individually. For example, construction and combat will be tested separately and in phases. Some features will not be active until release or post-release, so we ask testers to focus on what is present more than on wishlists of future features.
  
  
• Stage 3 - Integrated Beta
  The gameplay elements that were tested separately and individually in Stage 2 will start to be tested together during this stage.
  
  
• Stage 4 - Game Balance Beta
  While we have and will be working on game balance issues all along, stage 4 will focus both on top-level and instance-level issues of balance of gameplay.

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7. What is expected from beta testers?
We are looking for testers who are diligent, patient, and daring.

They need to be diligent in sharing the exact issue and circumstance of a bug or issue so it can be replicated and overcome.  If we can't replicate it, we can't fix it.

They need to be patient as we test-retest-test-again every issue that comes to light. Also, they need to be patient as the feature set they were "just dying to see and test" isn’t seen or tested yet.

Last but not least, they need to be daring. Sometimes things happen in large chunks of code that inadvertently affect ones computer; only the daring can accept this challenge with grace, bravado, or insanity and survive!

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8. How are testers chosen?
There are a percentage of slots pre-assigned. The rest are pretty much drawn at random.

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9. What kind of support can beta testers expect?
World Fusion will provide both a moderated message board and bug list to ensure that your attentiveness does not go unnoticed.  However, since we will be focusing on fixing the technology and game, we will not be able to afford 100% visibility on that message board. If you require technical assistance, the best support will come from other testers who have experienced similar issues.

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10. What are the recommended requirements?
We are recommending that you have a computer running a minimum of 500 MHz with 256 RAM and a Geforce2 MX or better.  While Atriarch will run on a machine with lower specifications, the performance will decrease.  (Your machine specs will not necessarily prevent you from testing.  We need testers with lower specs as well.)  This test currently runs on Windows only and an Internet connection is required.

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