Maticheck wrote:That's why "open" beta is not a good idea.
No. It really isn't a good idea. Early Access isn't a very good idea either. People don't bother reading what the thing they are signing up for is. We are living in Idiocracy.
People don't even bother taking 5 minutes to read the EULA they agree to on every single game. You'd think they would have learned from South Park. (Don't accept things you didn't read, or you might end up as a Human Cent-iPad.) That's why people think they are buying games and that they have rights they don't actually have.
For instance, the EULA in every single game ever states in the first clause "THE PRODUCT IS LICENSED AND NOT SOLD," which means, like any other license, it can be revoked, canceled, or otherwise taken away. The EULA spells it out further in the "Ownership" and "Termination" clauses.
Side note: the EULA also states that the product (the game) is provided "AS-IS" and "As-Available." The game worked perfectly on the systems they tested it on. If it doesn't work on yours, then why is your system different than theirs? You should change that. The only reason they come out with patches is because 1) they can now, thanks to the internet (You never updated your buggy NES or N64 games), and 2) it's better for business in the long run if they do.
But I digress, even "Closed Beta" isn't any better. People just don't know what a Beta is, and then are mad when their incorrect expectations aren't met. People don't know what a lot of words mean and use them incorrectly anyway.
Like I said earlier, you'd have to have 'THIS IS A BETA, NOT THE FINAL GAME OR A DEMO. YOU ARE HERE TO HELP US TEST THINGS,' flashed on screen in big block red letters, and people would still complain about things as if it were a demo or a complete game.
EDIT: This forum system is really bad.