Sugestions : Product named ATS Outpost

[moulije]

Hi ,

I think that Nevrax management is missing a big oportunity by having its ATS server closed to public when in fact they should threat it as a product.

Let me explain :

ATS = Advanced Test server

Instead of just having it close and not really used by many you could offer it as a product.

ATS Outpost would be nice for instance , 40$ as a stand alone product , 10$ for those who bought the Ryzom game or subscribed to it.

ATS Build your own region : for the Dev that whant to make its own region and test it on a real server : 100$

ATS Crafting : Include everything you need to make plan and test them on a running server : 40$

ATS City/Village/Outpost Creation : Create your own city , village , Outpost , and test them on your own ATS , included are some basic model and instructions.

ETC ...

What do you think ?

[predzz]

That is one of the best ideas i've ever heard.... to make the ATS totally useless
Making people pay to betatest, oh wait....

[kostika]

If you opened the test server up to the public (cheap or free) there are plenty who'd just playon that and never come to the live servers. An example of thisis seeing agame go from free beta to live. You'll see a large portion of the players disappear.

Besides, charging someone to beta test isn't usually a good practice

[moulije]

predzz :

"to make the ATS totally useless"

Interesting , the point of the server is to "test" incoming new ( probably bugged or incomplete or untested ) content , more eyes see more problem and can fix them or detect them faster. I dont think the current ATS would be used as a product as it seem to be an integral part of the dev QA. But I know for a fact that the outpost and other content would be delivered faster this way and would make for a nice little income. Feel free to offer your extensive research and qualified report that show that more people will equal less bug report.

Kostika :

"there are plenty who'd just playon that and never come to the live servers."

I dont see this as an unsolvable problem : put time restriction on that server.

Once the content goes live the ATS Outpost ( example ) goes down ... or is time limited 3-6 month.

"charging someone to beta test isn't usually a good practice"

People pay all the time for advanced preview and beta testing. And it is a good practice, those people tend to be more respectfull since they paid for the privilege then open public beta testing, recent example : GuildWars.

I have to disagree with both of you , sorry if this make you angry or that you dislike the idea , the intended goal is a new revenue stream ( so that Ryzom dont close for good ) and a quicker chance that we get some content delivered faster and get see what its about ( for those who think its worth there money ).

[borg9]

Being an encourager, my only comment here is some factual info.

ATS testers already pay to be a tester, you have to be a full Ryzom subscriber to become a tester.

The purpose of a Test server is to test the Ryzom product, new develpement work is done on Development servers inside Nevrax.

The support strucure of Ryzom, the NEL game engine, is GPL free licence to all.

The graphics, Ryzom code, etc is property of Nevrax and its unlike that a comercial company would 'give' graphics to anyone outside the company.
(however I am sure there are plans to allow 'player customised' front-ends)

One of the key elements of Ryzom, is everything fits together to create a world that is unique. Allow external 'random' additions could potential destroy the worlds feel. (E.G. Adding a car to a planet with no metal, that didn't fit the Karavan look and feel would spoil the 'experience' for me)

It honourable that you care about the income stream of Nevrax and I respect you for that.

[borg9]

predzz :

"to make the ATS totally useless"

Interesting , the point of the server is to "test" incoming new ( probably bugged or incomplete or untested ) content , more eyes see more problem and can fix them or detect them faster. I dont think the current ATS would be used as a product as it seem to be an integral part of the dev QA. But I know for a fact that the outpost and other content would be delivered faster this way and would make for a nice little income. Feel free to offer your extensive research and qualified report that show that more people will equal less bug report.

In three months of Focus Beta testing, more was achieve than in the all Open Betas. The reason is its not quantity of bug reports that get things fixed its quality of the bug reporting. The current reports comming for the ATS testers is of a very high standard and is extremely focused. I have much respect for the current ATS testers and wish I personally had more time to join them.

edit - srry for the double post

[predzz]

predzz :

"to make the ATS totally useless"

Interesting , the point of the server is to "test" incoming new ( probably bugged or incomplete or untested ) content , more eyes see more problem and can fix them or detect them faster. I dont think the current ATS would be used as a product as it seem to be an integral part of the dev QA. But I know for a fact that the outpost and other content would be delivered faster this way and would make for a nice little income. Feel free to offer your extensive research and qualified report that show that more people will equal less bug report.

Kostika :

"there are plenty who'd just playon that and never come to the live servers."

I dont see this as an unsolvable problem : put time restriction on that server.

Once the content goes live the ATS Outpost ( example ) goes down ... or is time limited 3-6 month.

"charging someone to beta test isn't usually a good practice"

People pay all the time for advanced preview and beta testing. And it is a good practice, those people tend to be more respectfull since they paid for the privilege then open public beta testing, recent example : GuildWars.

I have to disagree with both of you , sorry if this make you angry or that you dislike the idea , the intended goal is a new revenue stream ( so that Ryzom dont close for good ) and a quicker chance that we get some content delivered faster and get see what its about ( for those who think its worth there money ).

There are not a lot of people on the ATS server already, i've seen messages from those that have been on the ATS that it was very hard for them to find other people as the regions they were in were all empty.

Feel free to offer your extensive research and qualified report that show that more people will come on the server when they have to pay for it instead of simply filling in a request form.

As for letting the 'public' on... There is absolutely no point in letting people on that have no experience playing Ryzom since they will:
A. Spend more time trying to find out how everything works, instead of looking for bugs.
B. Most bugs from incoming reports will already be known by the devs.

It is much wiser to let someone on that can instantly start doing what they're meant to do: find new bugs. etc...

[moulije]

"In three months of Focus Beta testing, more was achieve than in the all Open Betas."

I seriously doubt that , things like hardware report and number of usefull bug report are seriously lower in my opinon. Certainly more focused work whas done , but its mostly due to the nature of the Development process and the target wich the dev have to reach, wich is obviously different.

More eyes = more bug reports , it dont necesarely translate into more bug fixed or more content creation or better developper understanding of what is tought to be wrong. But in the end it translate to faster development and a better final product if the Dev are responsive.

You fail to show the proper data to back your claim , hence you wil not convince me of millions of other project searchable achievment that prove your point as inacurate. I will agree to disagree with you here , sorry.

[borg9]

"In three months of Focus Beta testing, more was achieve than in the all Open Betas."

I seriously doubt that , things like hardware report and number of usefull bug report are seriously lower in my opinon. Certainly more focused work whas done , but its mostly due to the nature of the Development process and the target wich the dev have to reach, wich is obviously different.

More eyes = more bug reports , it dont necesarely translate into more bug fixed or more content creation or better developper understanding of what is tought to be wrong. But in the end it translate to faster development and a better final product if the Dev are responsive.

You fail to show the proper data to back your claim , hence you wil not convince me of millions of other project searchable achievment that prove your point as inacurate. I will agree to disagree with you here , sorry.

This has huge protential of ending up being a forum fight, unrelated to the actual Game, so this is my last post on this thread.

[moulije]

"Feel free to offer your extensive research and qualified report that show that more people will come on the server when they have to pay for it instead of simply filling in a request form."

1)

Guildwar

http://www.distrowatch.com

Fedora VS Red Hat

etc ...

2) If the entry level is lower ( cash ) , instead of some wanted quality or people skill , there will be more people testing it and on the server ...

It is much wiser to make a small profit , then to assume people cant be taught how to reach a certain skill level from other experienced users or by using something.

It took ID 5 years and more then 40 millions to make quake 3 , it took the Quake community one month to make a full DVD add-on for free ...

But you must be right since the outpost have been live for so long ... ( cinycal on that last part ).