Beta Syndrome

A detailed Summary of Beta Syndrome

It's that time of year again; the applications reviewed, the e-mails opened, the anger spewed, it's beta time! One can just feel the energy flowing about the community, it's similar to that of 17th century witch trial. Whose on the chopping block this time around? It isn't the 'n00bs,' or the 'flamerz,' or even the vile and repugnant 'exposers.' Once again, the flames of hate are directed towards the parent company, in this case EA Pacific and their handling of the Generals multiplayer test, or beta if you will. Even worse are the attitudes some people are taking towards the handling and playing of the multiplayer test.

All of this ranting and raving started days, if not hours after the multiplayer test e-mails were sent out. As it became apparent that a lot of people had not been chosen, tempers flared. Some people were calling it an unfair test and how everyone should be involved in it. It is hard to believe that people truly care about everyone else when they suggest something like a large, public beta. The main reasoning behind an argument like that is so that the person who made the comment would also be in the test himself. Statistically a closed-form beta is just as effective as an open beta; one can see this by looking

Once you sort through all of those types of arguments. You have the people who have signed up for the multiplayer test for reasons not remotely connected with that of the test. These are the same types of people that complain if they didn't get chosen. I can cite one example in which a person mentioned that they expected to be chosen and that they planned on 'playing Generals for the next few months.' Note that no mention of helping developers with the game was said, after all, they just wanted to play the game. This travesty has taken new forms however and tries to mask itself. Recently in the official forums questions of clan play have surfaced. Clan play during a multiplayer test, this is sickening. Clans are made for rank and no testing should be done in the name of a clan. It leads to a waste in EA Pacific's time to even hold a beta. What's even worse is that some fansites are already supporting this type of competitive clan play during a beta! During a test like this a fansite should have two main priorities. The first of which is to report bugs and possible fixes to EA Pacific. The second is to inform the public and provide as much information about the game as possible to the community. I feel it is only amount of time now before we see 'member of best Generals beta clan on the net' gracing the signatures of some people. The purpose of this test to help EA Pacific make the best possible end product for the public. This is, in a way, a form of work. It is best to view the multiplayer test as working, not just a game. Some may call me a hard ass for thinking in such ways, but this is a lesson for life. It is these 'hard ass' attitudes which separate the employed from those without weekly paychecks.

One last source of EA Pacific criticism was one that I was not prepared to take. It involves fansite members themselves proclaiming that they are owed test slots. All I can do is hang my head in shame for some of the actions of these people. Their arguments say that since they work for a fansite, they should be entitled to a beta slot. When anyone in the numerous staffs of the fansites says something like that, they should rethink their priorities and question why they are creating sites in the first place. I speak for myself and the rest of the Planet CNC staff in saying that a staff member for a fansite does what he does for the love of the game. They expect no prizes, no rewards; they work because they have fun doin

Some common words found in the essay are:
EA Pacific, Command Conquer, Earth Beyond, War Medieval, , Warcraft III, Planet CNC, EA Pacific's, multiplayer test, Britons French, ea pacific, clan play, play game, warcraft iii, percentage americans chosen, percentage americans, test slots, fun doing, americans chosen,

Approximate Word count = 1643
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous