It’s possible, but the veracity of that data should be taken with an extremely large grain of salt. Without stable servers, there’s no guarantee that these same bugs will persist.
Congrats, but there are more than just those things. There are tons of systems to test that can’t be actually tested right now, because we can’t stay online long enough to test them.
We all realize the point of the mode, but if the backend is so broken it’s no longer functional, then firstly…
This is an alpha, as that is where base systems are tested and deployed.
And we can’t properly beta test since hardly anyone can stay connected.
“Being connected” is live service step 1, they should probably figure that out cause they look like clowns.
The population isn’t a surprise, they alone know the pre-order base and have known for some time.
You can’t say, “Oh but how could they know all these players-”
Look at the preorders, do some stuff? Saying that basically is admitting they’re managerially inept.
But again, the server data itself is part of the test. Testing server load, phasing environments, cutscenes, etc. Those all go towards beta testing.
Beta tests generally speaking have a larger audience of people specifically to help test server stability and load.
This should be a separate thing altogether, though. I know it’s not, but it should be.
I’m sure the beta is going to last past tomorrow. They may end up needing to do a whole new build to fix the issues that some people are having, just depending on what’s going on it could be a while.
I get salty about Remix having problems because it’s a limited-time mode that IS there for people to have fun in. Beta being down, inaccessible, impassable…that’s just beta. I’m sure if it’s urgent that they get us all in there to do stuff they’ll get it done pretty soon. That’s for them to worry about, though, not me.
I will concede that is a little odd that they do stress testing last not first. I think they should do it both first and last. First to get a baseline of extreme stress and last to double check it after thousands of change were made.
I don’t know that the stress testing was necessarily intentional, I think they just had a much bigger group of people interested in beta testing, and many more who had access than in previous times where they rolled out controlled waves due to the prepurchase feature, that they’re having a bit of an “accidental” stress test 
Discovery! HUZZAH!
Yeah, it’s definitely not ideal, I just don’t think I’ve ever seen a beta that didn’t do a stress testing phase.
Using that beta floodgate that opens up more people with a wider variety of system types also inadvertently causes system load.
I can’t look for “Problems” when I’m constantly being DC’s.
Okay. Relax, then, and go back to it later when things are smoothed out if you’re inclined.
If they absolutely need you specifically to be online at any given time, I’m sure they’ll let you know. Otherwise, “chill out for a while and try it again later” is sort of a very normal way for a beta test to go.
That also isn’t a free pass for the service itself to be so unstable that it hinders the ability to actually test anything.
They should have deployed this internally and done a basic all hands functionality test some time last week before they told users they would have access to it.
If they had properly planned the deployment of this system, they wouldn’t have been applying last minute patches the day of. Blizzard also has a ton of experience in understanding live services and running a stable platform – as well as understanding what launches look like and how to prepare for them.
So, yes – Beta, there are going to be problems and stability issues. We should all be patient and diligent in our testing.
But also Blizzard has the experience and resources to host smooth live services, they set the date for this and at the end of the day someone actively made the decision to just throw customers at something that barely functions.
Why?
No, seriously, I’m sure it would’ve helped them more if it was more stable before the beta launched, but it is still a beta. They’re not under any kind of obligation to have it in a working state on the player-facing side, they’re only accountable to their internal people who might be getting annoyed that the server instability is delaying getting more content tested.
For the live launch? Yes. They do have obligations to the players to have things in good working order because they go live. By doing this now, we’re helping them do that. For free, on their terms. Isn’t that nice of us?
Please tell me you finished it with “i have finally hit the ground now.”
My favorite has to be in warlords when the caves were not properly lined up so if you entered any you fell thru seams into the terrain. Had to jump your way in.
Not to mention basic server functionality isn’t a beta feature, that’s alpha and pre-alpha. Stress testing? That’s OPEN BETA. This is as open as a 40$ club cover.
There’s no such thing as a beta “feature” as far as we’re concerned. They’re not obligated to have the content working for us at all. No obligations. None.
They allowed people who prepurchased some versions of the expansion to come here and do this on top of the people that they just invited, and apparently more people were interested than they thought. They’ll figure it out, I’m sure.
It’s like giving people who bought tickets to a theme park the “perk” of being able to volunteer to clean up a beach also, and then people complaining that there were too many people so they didn’t get to pick up very much trash, and couldn’t find parking.
The fact that they gave beta access to people who happened to preorder the next expansion doesn’t change the beta test into anything other than a beta test, not a prelaunch.
Beta isn’t just a magical word Blizzard designed, it has meaning.
Beta takes place after feature-complete.
Software in the beta stage is also known as beta ware. A beta phase generally begins when the software is feature-complete but likely to contain several known or unknown bugs.
Being unable to log in, pretty much at all, is more than “several known or unknown bugs.”
That is unusable and would be closer to garbageware lol
Completely disagree. This is the first time the Beta servers have had this many people on it since original Classic beta, and those servers also were notoriously crash-y until the hyped died down after the first day or two.
The Beta servers are not meant to house this many people and there shouldn’t be an expectation of it.
Then they shouldn’t sell a heckton of invites and then run off to play footsies with KING.
First off, you can call it a beta – but it is a feature of an actual product that people purchased. So it’s not actually a beta. It’s a production system from a consumer standpoint.
Second off, we aren’t here to test server stability issues. Blizzard has decades of server stability experience. We’re here to test in game features.
If there are software reasons for users getting DC’ed when they do something that syncs with the server – those issues should have been resolved in the Alpha. These are like database connectivity/server connectivity issues. Dropped packets/lost data etc.
We’re here to test talents/dungeons/provide feedback on systems that are already established.
I’m not trying to say people shouldn’t be patient. I still have every intent on doing that. I’m just aware everyone testing right now is not having their time / energy respected because someone at Blizzard made a decision to throw users/testers at a system that wasn’t actually ready for them.
They honestly should do better next time. They’re not gonna do anything differently if people don’t call them out for it though. I’m not mad, I’m just stating a fact.
If you set the date for something, you should be prepared for it. They should be treating this seriously. Otherwise the optics are basically that they don’t care about pay pig beta user feedback or time/energy.
Small indie company didn’t you know?