To the HOI4 Community, Podcat, and whomever

[sunsterson]

Hey, I've been following the HOI4 forum for a long time, paid attention to everything thats been going on, read the DD's and watched the interviews. So I'm up to date on all things hoi. Now about me as a player. I started in HOI2, and transitioned into hoi3 for the long term. I've played over 1200 hours on hoi3. I've participated in over 20 hoi mp games within 5 different groups. So overall, I'm pretty experienced in the hoi 3 series.


Now what is this about?

Paradox has a history of releasing a buggy and unplayable game. It takes a long time to fix and overall its negative to the game. Now, EU4 and CK2 have improved on this aspect, but hoi is different. More combat, production based, and along with a huge naval and air aspect hoi will be more susceptible to bugs. I love this game and all I want to see is this game succeed. What am I suggesting? I'm suggesting a hoi4 mp beta test group from the hoi3 mp community. Most people in hoi3 community are extremely experienced and knowledgable.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?821929-My-anti-wish-list
An example of the bugs/gamey things that any hoi3 mp player has experienced.

Why this would be good for the game?

Notice the EU4 DLC's. They run a dev mp game on stream to find bugs and generate excitement for the game. Having a hoi4 mp beta group would find so many early bugs and make the game better. I wouldn't mind streaming it too if need be. Hoi3 mp players in my opinion would do an even better job then the devs in terms of doing mp testing. Literally we consider anything to find a competitive advantage and thats what it takes to make hoi4 a relatively bug free game.


In Conclusion

HOI4 has the chance to be something special. It's the most complex and satisfying strategy game in the world. However the bugs will prevent the game from being truly great. HOI3 mp community is the most experienced in hoi3 in terms of finding bugs and overall experience. They/me are the most suited for a hoi4 beta test if there is one. Thus, I propose a HOI4 mp beta by experienced hoi3 mp people.


I would be interested in hearing the devs and the community's thoughts.

 

[Chromos]

So in short: We want an open Beta!?

 

[sunsterson]

So in short: We want an open Beta!?

Sure. Or a pre-order beta. Or a closed mp beta.

Basically, hoi3 mp players (just like everybody) just want to make hoi4 the best game.

 

[SpanglishEmpire]

What affects single player may not affect mp, I think the most important think for beta testing is getting the right people doing it, People that are actually going to make an effort at going through all the different possibilities and make bug reports for the team to fix it, Aswell as people who have an idea of the general series mechanics so they know when something is not doing what it should do.

I would love to play the game early but do not have the time to do it as it would need to be done, So I will wait and hope others do the job properly lol

 

[Porkman]

It seems like you're advocating for an Mp beta test of HOI4, which is a great idea.

But read your post, you never ask for it.

Instead here's your outline

I. Who I am
II. The HOI Series is prone to bugs due to complexity
a. Look at all these bugs!
III. The EU4 team ran a multiplayer dev game to generate excitement! We'd be even better.
IV. The HOI3 community is good at finding bugs. What are your thoughts?

At no point, do you actually ask for a HOI4 beta test to be explicitly done by experienced HOI3 players. It's all implied. I think that needs to in there.

 

[sunsterson]

What affects single player may not affect mp, I think the most important think for beta testing is getting the right people doing it, People that are actually going to make an effort at going through all the different possibilities and make bug reports for the team to fix it, Aswell as people who have an idea of the general series mechanics so they know when something is not doing what it should do.

I would love to play the game early but do not have the time to do it as it would need to be done, So I will wait and hope others do the job properly lol

What effects mp effects sp for sure. We are talking about ninja landings be too easy, industry exploits, combat cheats, overstacking, naval imbalances, over balance, and more. Basically the exploits and bugs.

It seems like you're advocating for an Mp beta test of HOI4, which is a great idea.

But read your post, you never ask for it.

Instead here's your outline

I. Who I am
II. The HOI Series is prone to bugs due to complexity
a. Look at all these bugs!
III. The EU4 team ran a multiplayer dev game to generate excitement! We'd be even better.
IV. The HOI3 community is good at finding bugs. What are your thoughts?

At no point, do you actually ask for a HOI4 beta test to be explicitly done by experienced HOI3 players. It's all implied. I think that needs to in there.

whoops thanks.

 

[208]

When you apply for the HoI4 beta, whenever that happens, indicate your multiplayer experience and I suppose Paradox will take that into account as they see fit. And if you get in I'm sure you would be able to coordinate with the other beta players to test some multiplayer games.

 

[sunsterson]

When you apply for the HoI4 beta, whenever that happens, indicate your multiplayer experience and I suppose Paradox will take that into account as they see fit. And if you get in I'm sure you would be able to coordinate with the other beta players to test some multiplayer games.

I'm not sure, but I don't know if its gonna be an application based hoi4 beta.

 

[sermaciej]

You just want to play HoI IV as soon as possible, admit it

 

[sunsterson]

You just want to play HoI IV as soon as possible, admit it

Somewhat but I truly believe hoi3 mp players are the most qualified for beta testing

 

[Opanashc]

You willing to pay for beta?

 

[Kadanz]

Somewhat but I truly believe hoi3 mp players are the most qualified for beta testing

I don't really agree with that statement, nor do I fully dissagree with it either.

I don't think that an MP player is more qualified than a player who plays SP only, as long as said player has a good understanding on how the mechanics work and knows how to test them, is qualified for being a beta tester in my book.

 

[Denkt]

Beta testing isn't just about finding bugs.
Best beta team is probably one that have people of all different personalities who all play the game differently however they all diligently report their findings.

 

[jcpvdberg]

Beta testing isn't just about finding bugs.
Best beta team is probably one that have people of all different personalities who all play the game differently however they all diligently report their findings.

True! There is no one ideal tester, its a wide variety of players with all sorts of gameplay that can really test it.
If you really want to test it you should test SP and MP both.
But we need to take into consideration that in a game as complex as HOI IV there will always be bugs. No matter how much it is tested.
I do have confidence in the HOI IV team that they will find a suitable way to properly test the game.
Ofcourse it is very nice that players offer there services, now it is up to the DEV team to make there choices and we simply have to respect that.

 

[Centurion1973]

Sure. Or a pre-order beta. Or a closed mp beta.

Basically, hoi3 mp players (just like everybody) just want to make hoi4 the best game.

I support this idea.

 

[brisduv]

I think beta testers should come from diverse backgrounds, from young gamers who strategy games are relatively new, to MP players, to soloists like me who have been (war)gaming prior to the first pc games (SSI/SSG games were a blast). We all bring different outlooks to what we want to see in a WW2 grand strategy game.

For me, it is will be an emphasis on replayability, historical OOB's, an improved naval and air game (DD's looking great so far). Remember this is a grand strategy game, some making statements like 'can I control the action in a naval battle' is really quite embarrassing. I believe we are in great hands with these developers (frankly more so than in HOI3, which was a buggy mess on release) and will most likely pre-order this babe.

Just make sure the map is correct.

Geographer by trade, conqueror is my side job.

 

[sunsterson]

I'm not trying to discredit anyone. I'm more leaning towards saying a MP Game would be the best test for a lot of issues. Anyone could really join in, just mp experienced guys would probably pick it up faster.

 

[Axe99]

I reckon that any beta needs both SP and MP components (after all, most people play SP, so the AI is probably the single biggest feature in the game, and MP doesn't give it the same test SP does), but MP testing would be particularly good at iteratively testing and pushing all the systems as far as they could go, and finding where the cracks are. The OP is definitely the best "can we please have a beta" thread starter yet .

 

[208]

I'm not sure, but I don't know if its gonna be an application based hoi4 beta.

True, PDS could decide to change their established beta procedures for HoI4, contrary to what they've previously implied whenever the subject of beta comes up; but until such an announcement is made I'll assume it'll go the way of prior PDS betas, i.e., apply on the HoI4 beta page and they will choose a few.

 

[peo]

I've been playing hoi since 1 and they have never been unplayable. Nor has any of the other games.