How to Become a Beta Tester

How does one become a Beta tester? So you’ve heard that beta testers get to preview programs and you’ve decided to try it out but you have no Idea how to begin. Well the first thing you need to know is that there are not only two kinds of beta tests but there is also an alpha test. Alpha tests are usually performed in house by company employees.http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=alpha+test&i=37674,00.asp Once the alpha tests have proceeded to the point where some of the bugs have been discovered and fixed it is time to carry the testing to the real world where the program will be tested by real users in the environment the program is designed to operate in. http://www.geekinterview.com/question_details/67562

There are two types of beta testing, Closed and Open.http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/beta.htm Closed Beta testing is usually done with people specially selected by the software company either from employees, beta contractors or by invitation. The Open Beta testers are drawn from the general Public, or from a specified group that will deal with the program or even from potential purchasers who have pre-ordered the program and get an option to beta test.

As a Beta tester you will be expected to test the program as rigorously as possible. This means you will be pushing the program to its limit and trying to do everything that the software can possibly do. During this process you will also need to report bugs that you find and make suggestions on features that the program could have and on other changes that could make it better.

This procedure on how to become a beta tester is going to focus primarily on beta testing for games, but the route you follow is similar for becoming a tester for any software.

There are several decisions you need to make. To begin with, what system or systems do you want to include in your testing repertoire. There are Console systems, such as Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 or Wii; http://reviews.cnet.com/video-game-consoles/?filter=1105053_2000174_&tag=mncol;dir3 or handheld gaming systems such as Sony PSP, or Nintendo DS; http://reviews.cnet.com/4566-10109_7-0-2.html?filter=1105053_5024449_&tag=mncol;page or phones such as the Iphone, Windows Mobile OS, or Android OS phones. http://www.mobiletechreview.com/smartphone.htm Then you have Apple Macintosh Computer Systemshttp://macreviewzone.com/html/reviews/magazine/hardware/computers.php , the Microsoft Windows Based Computer systemshttp://www.microsoft.com/windows/ and Linux OS systems. http://www.linux.org/ Microsoft Windows is purported to be the world’s largest gaming Platform, http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/windows-based-pc-largest-platform-in-world-says-schappert therefore it has the largest selection of games available. http://internetgames.about.com/od/hardware/a/pcvsconsole.htm

Once you have decided what System or systems you want to beta test games on, you need to decide what types of games you want to test. Some of the categories that are available are action, first person shooters, action adventure, Simulation, RPG(Role Playing Games), Strategy (Turn Based Strategy, and RTS-Real Time Strategy), Racing, and MMOG (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) . http://www.allbestnews.net/types-of-video-games.html There are still more categories that have not been mentioned and all of them can be a bit blurry because a game can span more than one of the categories. For example, Evony is a Real time strategy game and also falls into the category of MMOG. http://hubpages.com/hub/Evony

Once you have selected your preferred platforms and games I recommend that you start getting the feel of how beta testing works using a Personal Computer. There are many Open Beta opportunities for F2P (Free to Play) MMO games available all you have to do is find them. One way is to do a Google search Using the terms F2P open betahttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=f2p+open+beta&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq= or MMOG open beta. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mmog+open+beta&aq=f&aqi=g-sx3g-msx5&aql=&oq= Another way is to go to one of the MMO websites such as www.mmorpg.com, or www.freetoplay.org, or www.massiveonlinegamer.com.

Once you have selected a game to check out then you need to sign up for access to the game. Many games are hosted by companies that offer multiple games. For example, Fantasy Earth Zero by Square Enix, is Hosted by Game Pot USA http://fez.gamepotusa.com . Signing up for access to this site involves going through a process of giving them basic information, in this case a popup asks for your birth date and your acknowledgment that you have read their terms of use and privacy policy and then asks for your user ID and Password.

Now you should download the client, or in the case of Fantasy Earth Zero, the downloader which will then download the client. Open the file and let it start downloading the game client. Once the installation is complete the game will be available to run. On the first run of the game and possibly as often as every day the game will update, these updates will contain new material and fixes for bugs.

Once the game is started remember, this is a beta version and will certainly have problems, unfinished portions and unexpected errors. This is the whole purpose of getting large numbers of people playing the game. You will be expected to do everything you can to test the game. Some beta versions will have tutorials others will have nothing except instructions on the basic game controls. Also, during the course of testing the game may be reset and you may have to recreate your player character multiple times; and although it doesn’t always happen, you will probably lose your character and all progress when the program goes live.

When creating a character, remember you are testing this portion as well, so go through all the options and pick selections that meet your preferences. Also, if time permits, it is advisable to create as many player characters as possible so as to try out as many different scenarios as possible.

Now on to playing the game and looking for possible problems or improvements.

Now you are playing a game that is in open beta test. Do everything you can to push the game as far as you can. Look for loopholes, also called exploits, that allow you to do things that do not seem applicable to the game. Problems found with the plot line of a task or quest, or anything that distracts from the game play, can be considered a bug. When you find a problem then you would use either a bug report or a suggestion form. Some companies combine all forms into one for simplicity. You simply select the most appropriate conditions from pull down menus. Continue as long as you can or until the game finishes its testing phase.

You should continue with open beta testing until you feel comfortable and build up a resume of game testing in the process. When you feel comfortable enough to press on then you should begin looking for other opportunities for testers. Do another search on Google, this time using search terms for “beta testing” http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ei=cYuVS6XMMNCelAeF0IT8AQ&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CAcQBSgA&q="beta+Testing"&spell=1 or “closed beta testing “ http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="closed+beta+Testing"&aq=f&aqi=g-m1&aql=&oq= you could also look on websites for companies that produce games you want to test and even contact them about closed beta testing opportunities.