Pet Society is nearly 19 months old and still a “beta” game. Beta is a testing phase for developers to gather feedback and put final touches on the game before its official release.
I’m curious, do you think Pet Society is a beta game?
Do you think Pet Society’s “beta” label is an excuse for frequent mistakes, errors and changes? How do you feel about the label?
Personally, I wonder about the “beta” label. If I’ve been playing the game for this long and it’s not fully finished, then will it ever be officially released?
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Maybe the PF feels unsure to their own game and because of that they still using “beta” to make it like a “play at your own risk” game or “no-complains it’s a beta dude”game
Andre, I think you’re right that they use the “beta” term to avoid complaints against the game.
I don’t think a game that has payable features is really a “beta” game. You shouldn’t have to pay for a game which is still in testing mode – I know it’s up to each person whether they pay to play or not, but there shouldn’t really be an option if it’s still in “beta”, unless they’re reimbursing the payments.
mrslea, I think you’ve made the best point against the use of the term “beta.” If Playfish believes the Pet Society is worth paying for, then they consider it a finished product.
Perhaps some features of it are in the beta stage, like the cooking feature. But the game as a whole is *not* a beta game. They’ve been charging players for real money for quite a while now, hahaha!
Agreed!
it is obviously a betaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa game… because it keeps doing maintenance and changing the format of the game. I also think that the “a” is going to be longer … hahahahaaha betaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
I still think it should be a beta game because I think they should sharpen thinks up with some more effects and games…
It’s funny, I actually posted about this on my blog in a post a while ago.
It’s weird, but I think it’s just the company’s excuse for the constant glitches and stuff. Before releasing it officially they are probably planning on clearing all glitches, disabling all hacks and adding a bunch of new features. They’ve already boosted the quality and made PS a better visual experience to play. I wonder how long it will take to sort out the rest.
Like minds! I don’t know. I wonder if I’ll still be interested in the game when it’s finally not “beta.”
hacks can NEVER be disabled completely… There’s always someone who finds a hidden way to the game’s glitches… I think that meanwhile they don’t perjudicate (is it correct?) other players, they’re free to do what they want…
You know, this is the only problem i think with this “internet” age of gaming we are living in. Whether you are on PS3, XBOX or PC, having so many people connected to the internet to/whilst playing, gives the developers, in my opinion, a chance to be LAZY.
They release games, before they are finished, and as a result, we get bugs and upfinished products. I’ve lost count of the amount of games i’ve bought, gone to play (sometimes as early as release day!) and instantly there is a patch to download.
PS are not in Beta. They are like an MMO, that is constantly adding features to keep the veterans playing. Simply a finished game, with that requires constant updates (Just like WoW). The fact that still use the Beta word is an insult to the English Language.
Nice conclusion! Yes, it does seem to give them a chance to be lazy. Even with the updates, it seems like there is at least one error made each week.
I guess they haven’t finalised everything yet..
hy Pet Society Girl!
i really like your blog, i visit it regularly (^_^)
see what i found in wikipedia for “Perpetual Beta”:
“Perpetual beta is a term used to describe software or a system which remains at the beta development stage for an extended or even indefinite period of time. It is often used by developers in order to allow them to constantly release new features that might not be fully tested.”
so as long as they release new stuff, it will be a “BETA” game.
Thanks Utena! I’m glad you visit often. That’s funny…if that’s the definition, is it good for it to always be beta?
The problem here is the word Beta doesn’t mean what it used to mean because of internet. The whole reason for Beta testing was to put it out into the world to have people test its usability and get feedback on things that need changing. Which is exactly what this game it. It is constantly undergoing changes that causes it to be unstable that may cause us data loss or bugs that need our attention for developers to fix. I know a lot of people say it’s an excuse and in a way it is. But it’s also a way to let users know that sometimes we are going to mess up. But unless you want to wait years for something new you’re going to have to deal with it.
They really should be using the term Release candidate, but not many people would understand that term.
hmm, thanks for your insight!
Well they might be thinkling it as if the weekly actualisations make it beta, being a finished product “one wich won’t change over time”.
Also, we can’t say it isn’t beta, it surely is, for the latest changes in the city and everything prove it!
In addition to that, if you put in the place of a business person, you have to admit it’s better to be paid for your job. (because it isn’t the same as other non beta pay-to-play games, such as WoW)
In fact, does Facebook pay Playfish? Does someone pay Facebook for having that massive population? There MUST be money in between, but where comes it from? and where does it go?
So, to end, I think it is a beta game, but beta meaning “continuously changing”, and the label won’t be removed.
*I see it’s already been said, sorry for repeating things, I also love your blog, I feel relieved when my parents keep telling me it’s an stupid, childish game… Your blog is a friendly hand wich helps me coping with all this nonesense
**I’d love it if the new mailbox really handled your post!!! (Not gifts, but letters and other, don’t you think so?
Thanks for your thoughts Kathee. I think you wrote a good definition of Playfish’s use of Beta, so it will probably never be removed.
Thanks for your compliments on my blog. I like you idea about the mailbox. It would be really nice if our messages went in there.
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