Major Beta Concerns

[DCWhitworth]

I'm seriously concerned that many people out there don't really understand the notion of 'beta' software and that the structure of EiANW is forcing us all down the route of using the beta patches whether we like it or not.

In the commercial world the rule of thumb with beta software is 'don't install it on any important/critical systems'. In the world of EiANW I can't think of anything more critical than a seven player PBEM game where people have invested a lot of time and effort in the play thereof.

The next issue is that we are strongly (and I'm sure properly) advised that everyone in a PBEM game should be on the same patch level. Clearly this makes perfect sense, however since many people will be playing in more than one game it only takes a small number of games to make the choice that they'll risk using the beta patch to force pretty much *everyone* down the road of using it. Surely this is not Matrix's intention ?

Finally I am told, although I have not tried it, that you can install the game more than once on your PC in different directories and it will run fine. This would provide a solution in that you could run two different version of the game. *But* as far as I can tell this is against the licence agreement which say "LLC grants the original purchaser of this software package the right to use one copy of the software program".

My solution would be to ask for the licence to be changed to read ". . . right to run the software program on one computer" which might allow people to run multiple patch versions on their computer.

Could we have some input from Matrix on this please ? Do they feel that the situation where most PBEM games are *forced* to use the beta patches is desirable ? If not what solution do they propose ?

And before anyone posts to say there is not much risk in using the beta patches, I understand that. I am concerned about the *consequences* not the risk. What if a bug messes up all the PBEM games ? Presumable Matrix will say (with justification) "Well it was beta, sorry guys" and yet many of us would have been forced to use the patch against our better judgement.

[MarshallEllis]

David:
 
I hear ya loud and clear. I'm not trying to force anyone to use the BETA but see what you're talkiing about. I will speak to Matrix about this. Would it be a viable option to allow an undo patch option in the install? I'm not promising this but this could give you a quick-out if my patch screws something up.
 

[eske]

DCW. hear hear.
Been there, done it, facing a possible game restart because of it (second time)

M.E hear hear, too. Uninstall option, or maybe an expected release date for official patch, along with each beta-release could inspire more patience...(?)

/eske

Speaking of patience: 1.02D wednesday going to happen ? [;)]

- Never mind. Just saw your 'Temp access problems'. I'll reinflate my patience. You just dig into those wholes ... erh .. well you know what I mean [;)]

[DCWhitworth]

Marshall,

Thanks very much for taking this on board.

Not sure about an uninstall, does it have to modify save game files ? If not are they backwardly compatible ? Otherwise I'd be just as inclined to do a reinstall to get back to an earlier version.

[Jimmer]

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis

David:

I hear ya loud and clear. I'm not trying to force anyone to use the BETA but see what you're talkiing about. I will speak to Matrix about this. Would it be a viable option to allow an undo patch option in the install? I'm not promising this but this could give you a quick-out if my patch screws something up.

That would be VERY helpful (at least in those cases where it does more harm than good). Hopefully would never be used, but having it would be very helpful.

[Erik Rutins]

We always discourage people from installing a beta version unless they are willing to deal with the possible consequences. That's why they are a registered download in the Members Club rather than a public download on our FTP. Always back up any important files before running a beta and I would definitely be reluctant to try to upgrade an important PBEM game to a beta version in mid-stream.

Regards,

- Erik

[DCWhitworth]

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

We always discourage people from installing a beta version unless they are willing to deal with the possible consequences. That's why they are a registered download in the Members Club rather than a public download on our FTP. Always back up any important files before running a beta and I would definitely be reluctant to try to upgrade an important PBEM game to a beta version in mid-stream.

Regards,

- Erik

Erik,

That is exactly what I would expect Matrix's position to be. However it does nothing to alleviate the issue that a few PBEM games upgrading creates a domino effect through most of the games.

At the very least it would help if you could put some similar statement on the download description. It might help a litlte, but I'm not optimistic.