It takes a village...of beta testers

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loboLoco
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It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by loboLoco » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:28 pm

I've been working on v2.7 for 22 months. At first, I thought we'd just do a quick port of 2.5 to iPad. Four months, tops. Then as we dug in, we started coming up with ideas for expansions: more customizations, a new map. Then my Unity developer said that we really should overhaul the animal AI code, as it had become rather tangled over the course of four versions and expansions of the game. So one thing led to another...and there we were, in late August, thinking the game was just. about. done.

Enter the beta testers. Over the past two and a half months, they have spent an unbelievable amount of time playing the game, finding bugs, and replaying, replaying, replaying, so they could first come up with a repro case for us to analyze and fix, and then to see if our fixes really truly fixed the problem that they had found. Seriously, I suspect that some of them were putting in full 40-hour work weeks testing WolfQuest.

So we went through seven rounds of full-on beta testing (plus some smaller rounds between the big rounds.) Their skill and dedication and thoroughness amazed me, and will amaze me for the rest of my life. I really don't know how we got so lucky to have such a group of beta testers, but I owe them an enormous debt. And so do you all. What we'll be releasing soon is a far better, more polished game than what I thought we had two months ago. And they're the ones who made sure that we got from there to here.

But I should also note this: no game is bug-free (especially an open-world game like WolfQuest), and there were some bugs that they logged which we simply could not reproduce, or which we were unable to fix and so finally deemed minor enough to allow in the final release. That's entirely on my shoulders, not theirs, so if you see a bug, you can bet you that a beta tester already reported it, but for some particular reason, we did not fix it. Blame me, not them!

These are the beta testers. Please give them your thanks.

Anduril
Frodo1
Katserin Kynsi
Kipcha28
Koa
Lobo Laughing
Neamara
Quivira
Sambhur
SilverHybrid
SolitaryHowl
ZeRivet

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duskypack
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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by duskypack » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:32 pm

Wow! You guys are amazing, and it's thanks to you Wolfquest is so glitch-free. What you guys did was amazing, and I sincerely appreciate your work so we can play the game today without running into new, obscure glitches every five minutes. And thank you, developers, for working so hard whenever glitches spring up! Both of you guys are the most perseverant people, and I applaud you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart <3

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:32 pm

Thanks Dave!

Whew! I think that was the longest period of beta testing that WQ has ever gone through?

It feels good to be this close to release!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by alethe » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:44 pm

Thanks everyone! We all appreciate your hard work!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Kipcha28 » Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:57 pm

Yeah, I think this has been the longest beta period that WQ has gone through - even longer than the first SC, which was just over one month long.

It's been wonderful to see this game have new life breathed into it, and it's been an honor and a pleasure to help it become the best it can be.

I think this is a good moment, also, to thank the developers - Dave, Tommi, and the rest of the dev team! They too have been putting in an insane amount of time on it - I get notifications about updates on my reports from before I wake up... on my ipod throughout the work day.... in the evening... I've even posted one at something like 2am and got a response right away! So, thank you folks for all your hard work: part of the reason we put so much effort into testing it is because you guys are so dedicated to it.

A lot of work has gone into this game on both ends, and it's come so far since the start of the testing period. I'm looking forward to seeing what the community thinks of the result. :)

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by SolitaryHowl » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:07 pm

Kipcha28 wrote: It's been wonderful to see this game have new life breathed into it, and it's been an honor and a pleasure to help it become the best it can be.

I think this is a good moment, also, to thank the developers - Dave, Tommi, and the rest of the dev team! They too have been putting in an insane amount of time on it - I get notifications about updates on my reports from before I wake up... on my ipod throughout the work day.... in the evening... I've even posted one at something like 2am and got a response right away! So, thank you folks for all your hard work: part of the reason we put so much effort into testing it is because you guys are so dedicated to it.

A lot of work has gone into this game on both ends, and it's come so far since the start of the testing period. I'm looking forward to seeing what the community thinks of the result. :)
I don't think I could have said that better myself. It certainly has been an honour to beta test again, and its amazing that WQ is still alive after all these years.

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by roguemoon » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:36 pm

Thanks to all of the beta testers and to the development team! You guys have put a lot of dedication into making this game, and it's amazing you all persevered for the two and a half month beta testing period despite all the glitches that popped up. You guys are all amazing!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Sambhur » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:43 pm

Aw, this was nice! Thanks for that, Dave. Although I tried my best, I still wish that I could've put more effort in, but it was bad timing (studying and exams). Good job to everyone else though! Your work is appreciated.



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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Celestial-Howl » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:39 pm

Thanks you guys! Us normal users may have had a hand in helping with this game like giving ideas and suggestions, but you really took the cake! (Or should I say elk?) :D

Best wishes to you all and Happy November!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Masika » Thu Nov 12, 2015 9:44 pm

I couldn't have said it any better myself, Kipcha! Thank you Dave and the development team for remaining dedicated and pressing on with the project - it makes me really happy to see the project still going strong. Great job to everyone - it has been a pleasure to beta test (although I too wish I could have tested more) the game that I've been linked with for so long now, so it makes me happy that I can contribute at least something. All of your work for the project is unquestionable!

I would like to add that you all, the community members, have played a major role in the project due to your interest and care about the project. Without the community foundation that the project has, I would have doubted that 2.7 would have been a thing at all. It's not often that games like this get such a dedicated fan-base, particularly a fan-base that has remained loyal for so long. Thank you all! I'm awfully excited for you guys to see the final release. :D

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Chumpkins_ » Thu Nov 12, 2015 10:13 pm

Thank you all for the hard work! We all appreciate very much, it wouldn't be possible without you all!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by SilkenGalaxy » Thu Nov 12, 2015 10:43 pm

Thanks all of you awesome folks who helped make this game what it is now!

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Jeames » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:02 am

You guys are amazing! We appreciate your hard work so much! <3333

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by paperpaws » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:06 am

Aw man, thank you! And my thanks and respects to all other beta-testers as well; I know I for one wish I had more time, but the dedication and hard work of all of you is impressive.

I've said this before, but my gratitude and appreciation very much goes out to the development team as well. I know when I left WolfQuest a few years back, I thought the forums would slowly die down along with the project. Not only for nostalgia reasons has it been great to see the project revived, but it's also exciting to see what else is to come and if a 'new wave' of people will grow to love the project and Community the way I have the past seven years now. And wow, you guys have been working hard!

So yeah.. To the Team and Community, you guys are amazing. Thank you <3

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Re: It takes a village...of beta testers

Post by Cackle » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:37 am

Congrats, to all beta-testers for the hard work you've done so everyone could enjoy the game! I'm excited about this and I've heard from the WQ facebook page that a demo is already out for download! It's thanks to all you beta-testers. :D :mrgreen: Thanks!

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