My beta testing experiences are somewhat limited, to be honest.  I’m someone who enjoys playing a finished (in so far as MMOs are ever something so pedestrian as “finished”) product, rather than experiencing the random roll-backs, server crashes, and the knowledge that EVERYTHING YOU DO IS DOOOOOOMED thanks to the eventual server wipe before release.

Having said that, I am also fully aware that beta testing allows me to see if a soon-to-be released game is fun enough for me to want to spend money and time on it at release.

What prompts this random musing?  I read on Bio Break (but you can find this out pretty much anywhere that geeks gather on the intarweb) that Star Wars: The Old Republic is open for more Beta signups.  I must admit that my first thought was most certainly from the lizardy bit of my brain, and it was screaming at me.

Clicky-linky!  Sign up, play game now!  Make lightsaber go WOM!  Make X-wing go neeeeeeeeeeeyow!  Now!

Yes, the lizardy bit of my brain has issues with syntax.  And quite often semantics.  It gets easily excited.  It also forgets, in its excitement, that X-wings aren’t a part of The Old Republic period.  It will cry when it realises that bit.  The lizardy bit really likes X-wings.

Why the pull from Star Wars: The Old Republic?  Obvious really.  When I was 5 years old, I hadn’t discovered tea.  But I did discover Star Wars.  1977 was a great year, and it made me the geek I am today.  There is, and will always be, a part of me that is still 5 years old, watching the movie for the first time.

I’m also impatient.  I’m very much an instant-gratification sort.  The way I deal with the long delay from first marketing forays to release of a game is to do my utmost to forget about it.  It’s one of the reasons that I don’t tend to read gaming magazines, or check out pre-release websites for information.  I just get all angsty and tetchy.  So by putting my head in a bucket of sand, I can hopefully be all surprised when the game announces the release date.

Being a beta tester invalidates my Startled-Ostrich approach to gaming release harmony.  It also means that, should I be successful, I will be ignoring all the games that I am actually paying to play.  That seems a bit daft to me; despite its draws, the Beta game is not the full release game that I am paying for.  Star Wars: The Old Republic can join the raft of games vying for my attention when it releases, not before…

I also want to be astonished, surprised, to gaze in awe and wonder at launch.  One thing that I’m enjoying about Aion is exploring a game I know very little about, other than online reviews.  That’s a lovely feeling.  Which I’d lose if I saw everything during the beta.  I’m not much of the explorer type, being far too goal-oriented, so I try not to kill off the explorer in me before he gets the chance to actually explore.

So, despite the constant background gibbering of the lizardy bit of my brain, I’ll not be signing up for a Beta Tester slot.

This doesn’t stop me desperately hoping for a fabulous game when it is released.  And wanting it now!  WOM!  WOM!  Neeeeeeeeeyow!

Cheers,
Hawley.