Hi.  So everyone complains about the bugs after every patch.  Some bugs, such as the notorious peripheral bug last fall that caused people to CTD at the menu screen if they had a certain peripheral plugged in have made the game unplayable after a patch is released.  After the last Sim Update 3, it was the FPS bug that made it unplayable for many people until the hotfix came in.

Since the release of the game, we have stressed to Asobo that a beta testing branch was needed to help them test the game before the patch is released to the general public.  Beta testing is nothing new to the game industry.  Many complex online games will have a beta testing branch of some sort and it often even allows users to opt into the branch if they want.  Even MSFS went through a beta test before the release in August of last year, and another beta test for the VR release last fall.  So beta testing isn't even new for MSFS.

A beta testing branch was planned for update #9 last year titled "Add a Beta Version Player Can Enable Before Releasing a Patch" in the feedback snapshot below:

But for some reason, since the VR beta test last fall, it's been crickets on the beta test branch.  Jorg was asked about quality control at the last Twitch Q&A and he didn't even mention a beta test branch at all (implying that whatever beta testing was done for VR, it stopped after the VR release).  Jorg did mention granting 3rd party devs access to a beta test branch in the last Twitch Q&A but that's not exactly the full solution.  That will just help with 3rd party add ons, but it doesn't necessarily help with stuff like the peripheral CTD bug from last year, or the FPS bug from Sim Update 3.  

A question has been asked about the beta testing branch for this upcoming Twitch Q&A.  Having said that, what happened to beta testing branch that was supposed to come out?  I thought a beta testing branch was a sure thing that was scheduled for the first half of 2021.  Now it's just crickets about the beta testing branch and it's no longer something that is scheduled?

Edited March 31, 20215 yr by abrams_tank

I think Asobo thinks they have a very large Beta Testing Team. It is called the Users, and the team goes into action as soon as the latest update is released. Then all they have to do is monitor the forums and they will quickly find out what bugs are in the update. 

4 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

crickets

?

10 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

?

It says right there for Update #9 "Add a Beta Version Player Can Enable Before Releasing a Patch":

This was from a feedback snapshot last year.  Update #9 would have been Sim Update #3. Sim Update #3 did not contain a beta testing branch.  Ergo, the beta testing branch was not done.

Edited March 31, 20215 yr by abrams_tank

I was asking what "crickets" meant in your post. I am unfamiliar with the slang as you're using it.

I think it would be really useful to have but its not as straightforward to implement for an online server based game. They would need some infrastructure setup so it makes sense to make it available to external 3PDs first to test it and then the public. 

Some issues I can think of. What if too many users opt into the beta? Can the infrastructure they setup handle this? How will issues be reported and processed/resolved? What about the uproar when a beta tester reports something they think is critical but Asobo think is not and can be fixed later?

Almost certainly their planned release dates will shift when beta testers find last minute problems and we seen what an uproar that can cause.

I get the impression they will just invite a select few individuals into the beta (and have done this - 3PDs will be the bulk of them) and they won't go with the public opt-in hence its dropped off the radar.

Edited March 31, 20215 yr by sanh

11 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

I was asking what "crickets" meant in your post. I am unfamiliar with the slang as you're using it.

The only sound one hears on a summer night.  Crickets (the insect, not Cricket, the backwards form of Baseball combined with rules nobody understands.... lol).

 

13 minutes ago, Twenty6 said:

I was asking what "crickets" meant in your post. I am unfamiliar with the slang as you're using it.

It means "absolute silence": https://www.yourdictionary.com/crickets.

9 minutes ago, sanh said:

I get the impression they will just invite a select few individuals into the beta (and have done this - 3PDs will be the bulk of them) and they won't go with the public opt-in hence its dropped off the radar.

I'm fine if they only invite a select group of people that the infrastructure can support.  At least Asobo can tell us they have a beta testing team in place.  Because it would have helped to catch the latest FPS bug.  A smaller beta testing team still may have missed that FPS bug, but there is still a chance they would catch it.

But I didn't hear anything from Asobo about a beta testing team, especially based on Jorg's response in the last Twitch Q&A.  It seems like the beta testing branch disappeared and was shoved under the rug.