Here's your reward: 5 Spider Eggs at under 20g per.

Vizikul wrote: »

morrowjen wrote: »

Have to admit I never expected this to be a contentious issue at ALL. In some ways, I think young gamers sell the beta work they do short. You may love the work but if you're taking it seriously it's still work.

But your work is voluntarily. I always thought people test stuff and publish the results to improve the game and help the community and not to expect to get extra stuff. I personally don't mind if dedicated testers get awarded but don't lock them behind a beta.
Also, there are differences between testers. You can play the game straight for three weeks and then all the feedback the developers get is "love it, keep up the good work." Such "testing" doesn't seem to be worth any award.

Edit: typos

It's not about all that. I don't mind the voluntary aspect. All I'm saying is some sort of reward would show ZOS appreciates the hard work.

That said, I do agree with a lot of what you're saying.

I want a Shroom Beetle for a pet... if you know what I mean

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

My Monkey is a lawyer . I wish you luck in your investigation . But first let's see your badge ! Show us your badge Forum Copper .

Here's my badge, the Khajiit who sold it to me assured me it was entirely authentic and with it I could police these forums on behalf of ZOS_BillE.

Because this wasnt real beta.

Turelus wrote: »

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

My Monkey is a lawyer . I wish you luck in your investigation . But first let's see your badge ! Show us your badge Forum Copper .

Here's my badge, the Khajiit who sold it to me assured me it was entirely authentic and with it I could police these forums on behalf of ZOS_BillE.

Looks legit

well looking at what you have contributed OP to the beta testing, im smiling from ear to ear that u really feel like you have earned anything, you just played the game, no forum post about bugs/tests/opinions and so on.....

Enlightenment is strong in this one

Night_Watch wrote: »

I'm sure that a small token of appreciation to everyone that took part in beta would be a nice thing and cost ZOS next to nothing. I'm also sure that within a day of that freebie being doled out there would be a huge outcry of 'Not fair' - especially from people who got an invite but could not participate as they do not play the game on PC. Either way, it seems, ZOS cannot win.

Which is why I feel companies should stop giving things out.

If you start with "testing is for game improvement and your chance to contribute and influence the games development only" and don't give any other rewards, people don't expect one (some surely still will).

Then people can ask, say it's not fair, but they knew before the event what they signed up for and that they put in their effort only for the above reasons.

Rohamad_Ali wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

morrowjen wrote: »

kagorsa wrote: »

morrowjen wrote: »

Sorry if this is already been asked but why have Morrowind testers been left out (and yes I could've missed something so please forgive me if I have). Anything from a pet to special mount/armor, to discounts on crowns and/or upgrades would all be welcomed. And that is just naming a few things. Lots of folks with no nostalgia for Morrowind sunk tons of hours testing.Others with knowledge w/the old lore have been invaluable, Even other upgrades got at least a pet.

TIA. And thanks again for forgiving me if I missed a reward.

So why do you really think you deserve something for being a so called "beta tester". 1) Is it to show off, 2) Is it because you did an immense about of work for the dev's, 3) were you shackled to a pc untill the end of your servitude. My money is on 1).

The reward should be in the fact you got to help the dev's in some way to make the game better for others, which should be a great reward in it's self.

Again. Beta testers used to get PAID with real money. We are working for free and it is work. Few other than gamers would do so and houses have taken advantage -- they know it. A Beta is hardly a finished product and is in many ways tedious. FWIW, your money would be wrong as would be your options. I think testers who sink a lot of time and feedback into testing deserve recognition.

It's nothing for ZOS to give something like a pet to testers but it would be everything in terms of showing hard work is appreciated.

If you don't want to work for free, don't test.

Now I am guessing that you were in beta as you're asking for this. As I was in beta as well I can see all of your posts in the beta forums, a quick check of your posts shows you didn't give much in the way of feedback on the forums.

So hard working beta tester that feels they deserve a reward, how many /feedbacks and /bugs did you do?

What are you the Beta Police ? Are you going to take my monkey in for serious questioning ?

*Shrieks incoherently in the bank for hours until someone makes a thread complaining about the Beta Monkey on the forums.*

morrowjen wrote: »

Toorlokviing wrote: »

ppl are so ungrateful these days and expect something special and be treated special when in fact being invited to the beta in the first place is a special honor despite all the bugs you have to deal with and report. now if zos wants to hand out something...thats their problem. i honestly wouldnt mind if more ppl got beta monkey for participating but only if they submited feedback that was useful to devs during test cycle. (really so ppl stop complaining about it)

That's really not true at all, imo. The problem is that we've accepted being treated like dogs by billion dollar companies regardless of industry and even been accepted it by no-name companies. People lack self-respect and a digital reward costs devs nothing. And what's so wrong ab

And FWIW, both ZOS and Beth are two of the better companies.

Night_Watch wrote: »

morrowjen wrote: »

I say that as someone who has been involved with a house.

Involved with a house? I married a bridge! I jest.

There's a lot of good points being raised here in this thread. I have a question though;

If Fred is in the beta from day one and gives a huge amount of feedback and Bob is in the beta for only the last few days and gives no feedback would they both qualify for the same reward?

It is a ridiculous question I know.

I'm sure that a small token of appreciation to everyone that took part in beta would be a nice thing and cost ZOS next to nothing. I'm also sure that within a day of that freebie being doled out there would be a huge outcry of 'Not fair' - especially from people who got an invite but could not participate as they do not play the game on PC. Either way, it seems, ZOS cannot win.

As to Fred and Bob: NO! But I would say forum feedback isn't the end all be all and hours should matter as much as how long you've been in. And no I don't find it ridiculous. And small tokens help -- they make folks want to participate. A lot of ppl here don't like to acknowledge that players don't like the 2 server system with reg and PTS. That keeps many from using the PTS.

I also agree that a lot of good points have be raised in this thread. I don't agree with them all but I'm not blind.

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

All I want is a monkey.

To spank?

vrine wrote: »

Just putting out there, I'm a volunteer wildlife rescuer. I don't expect animals to go reward me with a box of chocolates or money, and I don't expect the organization to either, because the reward is the time spent with animals.

So why do you expect a reward? Its volunteering. The reward is playing the game before other people.

It's common in Beta testing;

morrowjen wrote: »

As to Fred and Bob: NO! But I would say forum feedback isn't the end all be all and hours should matter as much as how long you've been in. And no I don't find it ridiculous. And small tokens help -- they make folks want to participate. A lot of ppl here don't like to acknowledge that players don't like the 2 server system with reg and PTS. That keeps many from using the PTS.

I also agree that a lot of good points have be raised in this thread. I don't agree with them all but I'm not blind.

So how are you giving feedback, from /bug and /feedback?

If you're just joining a beta and playing the game and getting hours in it, but not actually giving feedback then you're not "working hard" like you claimed people did. You're just playing an earlier buggier version of the game.

There was some fantastic feedback on everything from skills to lore, and people really put some effort in. Most of those people did it out of a passion for the game and a desire to improve it. Not because they expected some shiny pet at the end.

If you have to use a pet to entice people into testing then they're not going to be very good testers, this is my same argument against rewards for bot reports or bug reports.
People will only do it for the reward and choose the path of least work which is to just copy reports of bugs others make.

morrowjen wrote: »

vrine wrote: »

Just putting out there, I'm a volunteer wildlife rescuer. I don't expect animals to go reward me with a box of chocolates or money, and I don't expect the organization to either, because the reward is the time spent with animals.

So why do you expect a reward? Its volunteering. The reward is playing the game before other people.

It's common in Beta testing;

This part is true. It's fairly common in the industry to incentivize people to log in by dangling a carrot. This can create situations where players will log in and actually test new content in order to get some bauble. It doesn't ensure effective beta testing, but it can get more people to log in, if that's what you need... which is also why this is far more common in open betas, where participants self-select, as opposed to closed betas.

The early beta testers have... a forum. No, really, they've got a hidden board on here. That's the entirety of their reward.

morrowjen wrote: »

Also, unlike the options you mentioned it costs ZERO but rewards and incentivises playersl

Also? This is flatly untrue. That beta monkey? Yeah, someone had to come up with the art assets, someone had to code it to function as a pet. Even when the pet or other bauble already exists in the world, you do have to commit developer resources to creating it and handing it to the player in a usable form. The same thing is true of costumes; the gear style might exist, but you still have to pay people to turn it into a costume.

So, no, these kinds of rewards do have costs associated with them. It's free for you; not free.

morrowjen wrote: »

As to Fred and Bob: NO! But I would say forum feedback isn't the end all be all and hours should matter as much as how long you've been in. And no I don't find it ridiculous. And small tokens help -- they make folks want to participate. A lot of ppl here don't like to acknowledge that players don't like the 2 server system with reg and PTS. That keeps many from using the PTS.

I also agree that a lot of good points have be raised in this thread. I don't agree with them all but I'm not blind.

Me two marras Fred 'n Bob. So there is an inequality in what those guys did (fictitious) so they should not get an equal reward? But they did both take part! Maybe Fred understood that he was beta testing and Bob was 'in it for the jollies' or maybe Bob wanted desperately to give feedback via in game reports, private messages to ZOS, social media or on the official forums ZOS asked for feedback to be posted to. Because he had but a few days to 'test' bob had very little chance to give any type of feedback. It is not Bobs fault that ZOS invited him to the party late and it would therefore be understandable if Bob felt peeved that Fred got a reward and he did not.

The ridiculousness of it is that the arguement just goes round and round with both Fred and Bob feeling badly done to in some way. Meanwhile Joe, an independent observer, chimes in with 'Hey! Where's my invite? It's so unfair ...'.

It is very difficult to argue against a small token of gratitude for services rendered and that is not my intention. That noted, if given the choice to participate in a beta (I have been many times), I know that I'm going in as a member of the public rather than as a paid worker. As much as I agree that such a small token would be a nice thing, I do not expect it. After all; I did get the invite, play the beta and saw the content long before others, had the chance to test out 'builds' and generally had fun that others could not as they where not in the beta.

In short, I held the public beta in a different light than a in house test that would have been my job and I should, rightly so, have been paid for.