I am very pleased to announce that the BetaTestersCollective is now a fully independent website and project.
I had been looking for a project leader for a while and after a few failed attempts finally found Ade, one of the testers who has worked very hard over the last few months to make it happen.
Ade is now the sole leader of the project and is in complete control. I will of course, offer any guidance or help requested.
I fully believe that the project is a good one and offers benefits to the modding community. However, it’s no use if people don’t know about it and use it. So if you are a modder, or have modding friends, please visit the website and see how the project can improve your mod.
If you are a player who feels they have what it takes to be a committed testers, then visit the site too. But beware – testing properly takes a special kind of person. A person who is willing to play and replay sections of mods many many times. Don’t even think of applying if you just want early access to mods – it doesn’t work that way.
On a personal note, I am proud to feel that this project stands on its own feet, but like my other project ValveCommunity.Com that left the PP nest, it requires a lot of work to keep going. It looks like VC is not really being promoted, which is a shame, but if anybody is interested in working on that, please let me know and we can try and contact the current owner/operator.
😀
Oddly enough, some modders don’t trust testers because they think they’re only after early access.. wonder who made such bad impression in the first place.
But it’s so much more than that and so rewarding to be able to help a team shape a mod.
I’m not expecting many applicants, but I am expecting modders to be reminded of us. We are still here and willing to help.
“Oddly enough, some modders don’t trust testers because they think they’re only after early access.. wonder who made such bad impression in the first place.”
And those modders really need to get over themselves, cause it’s not like they have some ground breaking invention that’s going to change the world or anything. 🙂
Don’t mean to sound rude, but obviously you have never mapped before.
And some do amazing work that not even Valve made, so yea, I wouldn’t hand out my creation easily.
It was the statement of “some modders don’t trust testers” that came across as fascinating to me. However, I don’t know the specific scenario here. I live under a rock, or I totally ignore ModDB, take your pick.
And yes, it is true that there are plenty of modders that meet or exceed the Valve quality of work. However, my point (made crassly) is that a modder has to be able to look at things objectively. There is always the tendency to get way too close to your own ideas and projects and to overestimate their worth. It is human nature to be attached to the things we create. If some unscrupulous tester absconds with your work, yes that sucks, but what’s the worst that could happen? They got access to an incomplete product filled with bugs? The joke’s on them. You learn to not let them test again, maybe you refine your standards for testers, and most importantly, you move on.
It happens to the best of us. Heck, it happened to Valve.
The whole idea that it could develop into something more – that a modder would actually not test their work as a result of being “burned” – is pretty irrational to me and speaks to someone who might be a little too close to their own ideas to see their objective worth. After all, without testing, the whole final product will suffer.
It’s also an extreme. I can’t imagine many modders actually making that choice. What I’m saying is for those who do – whoever they are – this is the essence of “get over yourself.” You don’t take it personally. Sometimes people are jerks and these things happen. It’s not the end of the world. You’ve just got to persevere and do better so the real audience, the deserving audience, will appreciate what you created.
Naturally, most modders have the good sense to have a small group of friends to test with. For those who don’t, or who want more opinions, there is always the fantastic BTC program that I will always recommend. The last thing you do is not test because you don’t trust testers.
“They got access to an incomplete product filled with bugs?”
that, plus great ideas and innovative mechanics etc
the thing is because of that fear, they only allow a very small amount of close trusted friends to test and think that is enough, when it’s far from it..
Where should I apply for testing. However only interested in source mod testing. I don’t want to bother with hl because it will mess up my cs 1.6
Go to their website and scroll down to the CONTACT US section. Details are in there.
Congrats to Ade, you are a really good tester and I am sure this will be very successful. I will be sure to ask for the Collective’s help again in the future.
Thank you, and can’t wait 😀