Real, dedicated beta-testers can sit at home, or anywhere, and play and have fun, and even get payed!
| Copyright Rune Trollebo |
To try to search out on the net much good info about beta testing is close to impossible. This is a problem both for the developer that
needs them and for the persons that want to work like testers.
I have had a few beta testers on my own projects, and I know all the problems around getting hold of some. People easily come forward
to do the job, but how can the developer select the best among hundreds of volunteers? Far too many think beta testing is done in a day
or two. And then get bored and bail out, so you again and again have to search for new testers. For small companies this is extremely
frustrating and time consuming, far to often money right out the window. So good, dedicated beta testers are really highly valued and can
get very nice salaries. To put it simple, there are thousands of people trying to get into the gaming industry, newly educated programmers
and artist, but they are fighting to get the positions to develop the games. The fun part of the projects is left to beta testers, but still there
are far to few of them out there. While some 20 people can make a big game, the project still needs hundreds of testers…
Some large companies like Microsoft has a found a way to get hold of lots of beta testers, like when sending out pre-release versions of
their Windows 7, they got millions of tester. For free. And then Microsoft later sells the product to the testers. At full price. Bad business
for a beta-tester, right? So what do you do if you want to make money on your hobby, becoming a beta tester?
needs them and for the persons that want to work like testers.
I have had a few beta testers on my own projects, and I know all the problems around getting hold of some. People easily come forward
to do the job, but how can the developer select the best among hundreds of volunteers? Far too many think beta testing is done in a day
or two. And then get bored and bail out, so you again and again have to search for new testers. For small companies this is extremely
frustrating and time consuming, far to often money right out the window. So good, dedicated beta testers are really highly valued and can
get very nice salaries. To put it simple, there are thousands of people trying to get into the gaming industry, newly educated programmers
and artist, but they are fighting to get the positions to develop the games. The fun part of the projects is left to beta testers, but still there
are far to few of them out there. While some 20 people can make a big game, the project still needs hundreds of testers…
Some large companies like Microsoft has a found a way to get hold of lots of beta testers, like when sending out pre-release versions of
their Windows 7, they got millions of tester. For free. And then Microsoft later sells the product to the testers. At full price. Bad business
for a beta-tester, right? So what do you do if you want to make money on your hobby, becoming a beta tester?
| I can be contacted at: |
| trollene@mwdgames.com or trollene@online.no |
The game industry needs lots of more good beta-testers
So who is a beta
tester? Anyone that loves
to play games, and want to
get into the mechanisms that
make a game run, and help the
games becoming better. It is
always a gaming hobby that
turns into well-paid work.
The testers I have been into
are usually at twenty or
thirty, but I have worked
with one who was 15, and a
professional beta tester at 54
and 55. And there are many
girls doing this, from their
home.
Every gamer say it is as close
to a dream job as you can
come.
tester? Anyone that loves
to play games, and want to
get into the mechanisms that
make a game run, and help the
games becoming better. It is
always a gaming hobby that
turns into well-paid work.
The testers I have been into
are usually at twenty or
thirty, but I have worked
with one who was 15, and a
professional beta tester at 54
and 55. And there are many
girls doing this, from their
home.
Every gamer say it is as close
to a dream job as you can
come.
***** Star rating for Game Tester Ground, best system for beta testers.
The right knowledge of a topic is always the best tool to fast get you on the right track.
I have myself worked as beta tester on some smaller game projects, and then often thought of trying to get a beta
tester job at the larger game companies. Now I wish I then had all the needed info, even systems, my friend Dan
Neewand Berg presented for me to this web site some time ago.
In another game project I joined last year I got in touch with some professional beta testers. Most of them
worked from their homes, some full time, some just for fun, and after work, or after school. A few of them are
now on my contact list for the future, when I need testers for other projects. Even one of them is now working
half day for me. I hope I can get hold of the rest when I need them; some have longs list of assignments, and then
is hard to get.
As you will learn in these systems, if you have established a good contact/relationship with a game developer,
they will come back, again and again.
Back on March 21. 2009 I had set up a net chat with twelve beta testers; I was trying to get them to work on a
patch on an UK game. During the chat two of them told they started out with the Game Tester Ground
The right knowledge of a topic is always the best tool to fast get you on the right track.
I have myself worked as beta tester on some smaller game projects, and then often thought of trying to get a beta
tester job at the larger game companies. Now I wish I then had all the needed info, even systems, my friend Dan
Neewand Berg presented for me to this web site some time ago.
In another game project I joined last year I got in touch with some professional beta testers. Most of them
worked from their homes, some full time, some just for fun, and after work, or after school. A few of them are
now on my contact list for the future, when I need testers for other projects. Even one of them is now working
half day for me. I hope I can get hold of the rest when I need them; some have longs list of assignments, and then
is hard to get.
As you will learn in these systems, if you have established a good contact/relationship with a game developer,
they will come back, again and again.
Back on March 21. 2009 I had set up a net chat with twelve beta testers; I was trying to get them to work on a
patch on an UK game. During the chat two of them told they started out with the Game Tester Ground
***** Star rating for Only 4 Gamers , another excellent system for beta testers.
The community around this system is more closed, but still there are many that use it to get into the
Industry.
My chat back in March showed me that this was also a known and useful system. A girl told me she had got
more work than she managed to handle following their advices. I have also communicated with a tester that told
me he always has a full time job going with one company, and then one, or even two, different part time testing
jobs at once. Since there always are times in a project where you wait for the next thing to test, or during
communication back and forth between you and the game company, there is always time to do other tasks. He
usually works ten hours a day, and get a rather hefty salary. He started out with this system.
You will find it here at Only 4 Gamers
The community around this system is more closed, but still there are many that use it to get into the
Industry.
My chat back in March showed me that this was also a known and useful system. A girl told me she had got
more work than she managed to handle following their advices. I have also communicated with a tester that told
me he always has a full time job going with one company, and then one, or even two, different part time testing
jobs at once. Since there always are times in a project where you wait for the next thing to test, or during
communication back and forth between you and the game company, there is always time to do other tasks. He
usually works ten hours a day, and get a rather hefty salary. He started out with this system.
You will find it here at Only 4 Gamers
So why become a
beta tester?
Why not combine a fun hobby
and a job? See, test and play a
game long before anyone else.
Get games for free. To play
games is fun, and you can do
it wherever you want. In half
time jobs you can play and
earn money after your daily
job, or school. And it still
gives lot of status to say you
work in the game industry,
even if you are above 40!
And you doe not need to have
the newest and fastest PC
around, as games has to be
tested on both slow and fast
PCs. Console players are also
needed.
beta tester?
Why not combine a fun hobby
and a job? See, test and play a
game long before anyone else.
Get games for free. To play
games is fun, and you can do
it wherever you want. In half
time jobs you can play and
earn money after your daily
job, or school. And it still
gives lot of status to say you
work in the game industry,
even if you are above 40!
And you doe not need to have
the newest and fastest PC
around, as games has to be
tested on both slow and fast
PCs. Console players are also
needed.
