Thread: Star Wars: The Old Republic

Originally Posted by DaiTengu

hey guys let's totally judge a game on a beta test. there's no possible way this can go wrong.

It depends on what aspects you're judging.

If you're judging a game in beta based on things like class balance, which can often be corrected by tweaking numbers or class mechanics, then it isn't fair to condemn a game based on such flaws.

However, if you're judging a game in beta on mechanics that are so deeply fundamental to the game that to change them in any meaningful way would require a revamping of the game from the ground up, then such criticism is valid since no changes past beta can address these issues.

For example, during beta, a lot of people panned Rift as just being another MMO grindfest with nothing truly novel to offer, except for rifts which were at best an evolutionary innovation that still left the fundamental gaming experience untouched and at worst a novelty whose interest will wear off quickly. This criticism remains valid, since it addressed the fundamental mechanics of the game that could not possibly be altered during beta, unless the developers were willing to scrap the game entirely and start from scratch.

The alternative would be to add underdeveloped and ill conceived game mechanics that fit poorly into the game's design at the last minute. This type of gaming development helped lead to WAR's demise.