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Please read this important explanation about Roma Victor's equivalent of a beta test scheme.
If you're not completely new to MMORP game services then you may well have experience of game launches going a bit like this:
» Pre-alpha: This is where the developer finds out just how weak their prototypes are. QA is almost entirely internal.
» Alpha: Some 'public' are invited to join the testing but they're mostly individuals that are already quite well connected to the developer.
» Early Beta: Some more people are let in according to some fairly strict and often unpublicised entrance criteria.
» Late Beta: A substantial number of people are added to the test as the entrance criteria are opened up to get a broader cross-section of the community (some less computer literate types, for example).
» Final Beta: Right before the launch during an intensive QA round where the developer is desperately trying to trim down the list of bugs, many more people are allowed in to help test the effects of heavy loads on the system etc. The final beta is often a good deal shorter than both the community and the developer would like due to publishing restrictions and the 'need-to-publish' beginning to outweigh the 'need-to-improve'.
Often this whole beta test can cover a period of less than six months leading up to the launch of the game service.
RedBedlam has chosen to drop this pattern and adopt a more open approach to development, wherever it is possible and sensible to do so. In order to build the game service that the players want us to build, we'll be inviting members of the public to apply to join our external test and development team, known as the GOCaT team* at a very early stage. Obviously for the sake of the game's longevity and playability we have to keep some things secret such as the magic formulas that control character progression and development and/or the finer details of the combat system.
Roma Victor is unlikely to become commercially available as a full game service before 2006. However, application forms for the GOCaT programme have been available since late 2002 and the first handful of GOCaT team members were given RV accounts in August 2003. When someone has been accepted for the GOCaT programme, as well as receiving RV account details, they will be allowed to download the latest version of the game client software from a secure FTP site and will be granted access to the private GOCaT message boards. They will also be given access to a variety of world editing, object editing and content submission tools.
After acceptance and prior to being granted access, successful GOCaT applicants will be required to print and snail-mail a signed copy of our Non-Disclosure Agreement back to RedBedlam. In the case of applicants under 18, a parent or guardian's signature will also be required.
Remember that initially the number of people taken into the GOCaT team will be quite small and will be gradually increased as our development needs expand and the capabilities of our technology and infrastructure grows.
It also is important that GOCaT applicants bear in mind the key differences between the usual MMORPG beta test pattern and the GOCaT scheme. Usually, beta tests are mostly about bug finding. Roma Victor's open design and testing scheme starts at a stage comparable an 'open alpha test' and accordingly in the early days it's going to be much more about game design, balance, interface, control, communication etc. We'll be focussing on suggestions and feedback over bug tracking. As development progresses, we'll start shifting more towards bug tracking as the various commitment decisions are made.
It is always important for a MMORP game service developer to have a reliable, resourceful and dedicated beta test community and for us, because of the way we're doing things - that's even more important. It's essential that the people we invite to help us build Roma Victor are doing so for the right reasons and we'll be doing everything we can to avoid freeloaders. They'll just have to wait for the commercial launch.
* (GOCaT is an acronym for Gladius Online Contributions and Testing - "Gladius Online" was the development codename of Roma Victor
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