I asked a lot of my freinds about the dawnguard one and they told me they made forum accounts just to get the DLC. i am just wondering if Bethesda could maybe not allow new forum accounts (under 1 or 2 months old) to try the next beta to give a chance for people who will actually TEST it and not get it just for the sake of getting something free.

I did the same thing, and I actually tested it...That was the only reason I even knew these forums existed.

i agree 100%, i'm sure most of the beta "testers" just wanted a free DLC

You've made 6000 posts since then?! Or am I misunderstanding you...

He's very passionate about the game

fixed

Yeah, the beta shouldn't include new accounts. ( I'm aware that would make me unable to play it, but I wouldn't mind )

The amount of idiots that actually got into the Dawnguard beta was astonishing. I could name the ones who actually tested it with one hand.

What he said. I may have been one of the few who joined for more than just the dlc. But I did by best to contribute.

I guess! I mean sheesh I joined in 2006... I just feel like a slacker now.

@ El Barto Lulz

I joined for the DLC beta, stayed for the mead and conversation.

Some companies have hand-picked closed beta testers from their long term forum users...in general, they're given a specific test copy, with fairly clear and concise guidelines, and put on non-disclosure agreements.

Having compared the difference between the efforts of closed testing groups, and open testing groups, I'm definitely of the opinion that open testing is largely pointless from a constructive viewpoint. The basic problems or dysfunction can be found by one person, rather than xxx people, and if you are looking for balancing or mechanics issues, you need a small number of dedicated testers who put a lot of hours in, rather than a large amount who onley spend a few hours on the test. On top of all that, by the time the game development process goes to external testers, its' format is already locked in, and it would be very very rare for any conceptual change to occur...and a lot of those types of suggestions are opinion based, and once your test crew starts having differences of opinion, you may as well close them down and start with a new crew.

All of the glitches I had were already confirmed. The best I could do was confirm. I dont think they needed nearly as many people as they had.

thank you.
i joined... a while ago. but i'm sure i don't have as many as ColonelKillaHighElfBee

Yeah I think beta testing is mainly a PR thing. I mean just from some of the people we've had here, you can see where beta testing got people into the forum (in my case back to the forum). That's why I don't really feel very strongly about this situation either way. It would be nice if you could be rewarded for being an active part of the community prior to the beta selection (such as having above a certain number of posts or views to be selected, or what-have-you), but I can see where Bethesda is really just trying to generate interest and make themselves look better. See, see! We had a beta test, that means we care about fixing bugs! Now... it just remains for them to FIX the bugs, lol.

Both forms of beta testing have their merits and flaws. Open testing groups aren't pointless, in fact, they are probably more ideal for a game like Skyrim.

I dont think thats why they did it. I think they wanted to make sure there was no game breaking bugs. And to my knowledge there were not in Dawnguard, so mission accomplished.

If you know me, you'd know how much of an insult that really is... lol

The night the beta was released brings back memories. I only know of one person that was testing and a whole lot of people being jerks because they got a free dlc. It really could have been handled better