World of Warcraft Shadowlands Beta Opt-In

[Edlarel]

So is this screwing over those who have gotten into alpha and closed beta from the past three expansions?!

Why would you think that? Because they created an easy-access button? That literally means nothing in relation to whom they're inviting first/how often.

[sizzle01]

why would i play beta to play unfinished, grindy content, with half broken specs oh and don't forget u won't be flying at all. Then do it again when it goes live, WoW shadowlands will be finished around 9.1 the last 2 xpacs are proof of this.

because its a beta test, one of the reasons bfa failed was bad beta testing

[Kyanion]

1/3 of the people that got into Beta was testing hard and sending pms/dms to blizzard. Like the Hammer squad, method, etc.

Lol as if every streamer drone actually puts any effort into reporting anything. Just because you watch X streamer does not mean you suddenly do extra on the ptr. Jesus.

[Socialhealer]

The beta is there to help test the content,not to play the game proper
Not that most people realise that to begin with

Yeah then players give feedback how some specs aren't working properly and numbers are shit, and blizzard goes....whatever u say but you're wrong, then the spec goes live and omg its a dumpster fire and blizzard are like sorry we can't fix that till x.1 EVEN THOUGH PLAYERS TOLD THEM IN BETA.

but sorry you live in a fantasy world where blizzard actually listens to all feedback and doesn't just cherry pick what stuff to fix and leaves half of it broken.

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The worst part is idiots like you actually get beta and you don't even understand the point of it.

actually i've had like the last 4 beta's i've played zero because i know blizzard doesn't listen for shit, why talk to to a brick wall, i'll play in x.1 where they've actually admitted they broke specs and badly tuned things and have finally fixed them, you know something they could have done in beta but didn't

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Except that, as evidenced by Legion and BFA, much of the playtester feedback went largely ignored out of hubris until the players were proven right and the devs had to shoehorn fixes into the first big content patches.

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This. All of this. Why opt into a beta where feedback falls on deaf ears and the live product ends up being a forced beta upon the rest of the population?

^ amazing how players forget this, ridiculous.

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Guess what ya do then, champ? You just don't sign up!

Never did, i always got in free because blizzard mass invited people with cutting edge. Never played ain't grinding the same badly released content twice, thats for the no lifers to do!

[Byleth]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Jetstream]

So is this screwing over those who have gotten into alpha and closed beta from the past three expansions?!

Noooo. You always had to opt in. Previously it was a setting in your battle net profile. Now it's a button on the website.

[aceperson]

why would i play beta to play unfinished, grindy content, with half broken specs oh and don't forget u won't be flying at all. Then do it again when it goes live, WoW shadowlands will be finished around 9.1 the last 2 xpacs are proof of this.

if blizz is willing to listen to feedback and actually make the game fun again, i'm more than willing to put in a bit of grinding.

[Ophenia]

Ah yes the time for spoiler-heavy content without any actual QA

[Dawon]

But but.. .I'm already playing the beta? o.O

[bowlink]

i opted in, lets see if i get in while not having pre-ordered

[Azerox]

why would i play beta to play unfinished, grindy content, with half broken specs oh and don't forget u won't be flying at all. Then do it again when it goes live, WoW shadowlands will be finished around 9.1 the last 2 xpacs are proof of this.

To help deliver a finished product?
People like you are always whining but not contributing.

[furydeath]

be ti know a way that does guarantee you will be chosen to participate

[Magicon]

because its a beta test, one of the reasons bfa failed was bad beta testing

Not really, we wrote and wrote to blizz about stuff over and over again. But they didnt do anything about anything and went their own way as usual. By beta testing they only listen to you about fixing stuff that is bugged etc. They dont care about how you feel about content/systems.
Was just like that with wc3 reforged too.

[swatsonqt]

"here is your option to provide feedback which we will be ignoring as usual because the current state of the game is irrelevant in our eyes"

[exochaft]

No idea if they changed the system over the years - I got twice into beta (ICC and...I think WoD) without pre-ordering. Actually even without opting in (but yeah, seems that is changed. See blue quote). No..I don't think there is a guaranteed way. As the blue states: "Signing up for beta does not guarantee you will be chosen to participate, but players who have not signed up to indicate interest cannot be chosen. Customer Support is not able to provide access to beta."

Could be though that some players did provide constant feedback over years and they get chosen specifically?

I believe the standard operating procedure for beta nowadays is to get some prominent streamers beta access for the hype factor. Beyond that, I'm fairly confident they have a list of people/organizations who will be receiving betas regardless of the opt-in. I've been in every beta that has been offered to the public, and maybe it has something to do with the massive amount of bug reports and feedback I tend to submit... or it's pure luck on my end.

My personal 2 cents about this beta? They need to get it right, as in this coming expansion needs to be as flawless as they can get it. Yes, they get a ton of random people that probably report/suggest random things, and they have to sort through that. Be that as it may, they better have the staff available to parse through all the information and get the testing/QA side of things done well, as well as getting as many people to alpha/beta test Shadowlands as possible. Perhaps my perception of the situation in general is literally that: perception of the situation surrounding WoW is probably pretty terrible on the player side of things. You will always have people riding the hate train or basically shilling, but even ignoring those people I'd surmise that your average gamer is probably a little fed up with the gaming industry and how Blizz isn't immune to its negative effects. While 8.3 has been (and still is) a bug-filled mess, that seems to be the trend for many games released as of late. Perhaps Wolcen is a bit fresh in my mind and the horrible issues that game has, but I think Blizz has built up a reputation where they can't just look good by comparison... they need to recapture what made people love their games in the first place.

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"here is your option to provide feedback which we will be ignoring as usual because the current state of the game is irrelevant in our eyes"

If they can't break that mentality (and trust me, I felt that way after the 8.3 PTR and getting suspended for a bug I reported on the PTR/live multiple times), Blizz is in for a massive world of hurt.

[Azerate]

A little bit weird they need a new site and special option for it when we already have beta access opting in on our accounts but oh well.

[BicycleMafioso]

because its a beta test, one of the reasons bfa failed was bad beta testing

The beta testing wasn't bad. What was bad was the direction forced upon Blizzard by the parent company and the resources allocated.
I got into the BFA alpha early, and nearly every single thing I reported on got fixed and changed.

With the power level squish, I tested a lot of old content and quests to figure out things like if old raids felt consistent for a solo character. Once transfers was opened, I focused on old world questing to do the same (because before this, all characters were 110+, quite difficult to go do old level appropriate content with).

I barely did any of the new content though. It was clear that most of this feedback was left to the side because Blizzard 'wanted' to do 'their' vision. They did fix most of the mechanical things that were clearly broken.

This time around, after the 'non-essential' layoffs, I expect the team to be even further pressed for what feedback they can address, however.

I don't mean to be a tinfoil hat, but the way Blizzard has acknowledged and addressed feedback has taken a sharp turn, since my first beta experience (TBC) and up to and including Legion were reasonably consistent (albeit obviously evolving over time)

[twothe]

First time I am not interested in the beta of the new content.

[Wangming]

I opted in. If I get in and there is no NDA, I will record a few vids for you all. I will be critical though.

[Daedius]

I'm confused OP, isn't it the Alpha people apply for, and release date is the open beta?