SE Rep - can you share with us the criteria for selection of Alpha testers

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Originally Posted by Phe

Wow.
you're giving me the option to quit a game i'm not playing?
well played, Sir.

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Going by your questioning of the selection process and what you suspect SE is doing it will only raise your chances.

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Originally Posted by Phe

What's the big deal with telling people what criteria they have?

Even snowflakes is an understatement, because it's a quite big snowball of people who are p*ssed of.

A reasonable mind puts things into question.
And is not satisfied with being told: "It's just like that. We won't explain. Live with it."

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The big deal is you can still apply if you want, if they tell us all the criteria they will be giving anyone who applies now criteria then you can kiss goodbye to ever getting in.

One of my friends who has played since Alpha 1 applied when this thread was made, that's how I know you can still apply.

listen for once in your sad life PEOPLE CAN STILL APPLY SO YOU WILL NOT GET THE ANSWERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or are you the kid at school who always cheated in exams?

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Originally Posted by Phe

What's the big deal with telling people what criteria they have?

Even snowflakes is an understatement, because it's a quite big snowball of people who are p*ssed of.

A reasonable mind puts things into question.
And is not satisfied with being told: "It's just like that. We won't explain. Live with it."

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The fact that you didn't get picked in no way, shape, or form reflects the overall criteria or ability of those who did.

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That's all you need to know...
Other than that, fight the good fight.

its just the first wave, chill people.... they cant let everyone in at once so some people will be left out for the first wave. i'm terribly sorry you did not receive an invite. just be patient.

What is so hard to comprehend?

If (number of applicants) > (number of testers needed) then at least 1 person is not getting selected.

I really don't understand what any of the crying is for.

The criteria are that people who complain about not getting into alpha won't get into alpha or beta :P

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Originally Posted by Thebard

The criteria are that people who complain about not getting into alpha won't get into alpha or beta :P

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That is what should happen. Unfortunately, it won't work out that way.

I would assume it would be random, from all the applicants whose, computers meet the criteria they are looking for. But no matter how they choose people will be left out. As a matter of fact more people will be left out than will be let in during alpha testing, so it should not be upseting or suprising to be left out at this point. The only people who should be suprised are those that got in!!

Wow, they really went as far as deleting the thread abbout people with inactive accounts getting into the alpha.

That's quite bad form....

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Wow, they really went as far as deleting the thread abbout people with inactive accounts getting into the alpha.

That's quite bad form....

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was that in the start date thread?? They really deleted those posts??

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Wow, they really went as far as deleting the thread abbout people with inactive accounts getting into the alpha.

That's quite bad form....

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Yeah I noticed that quick ninja edit too LOL. I thought the thread of despair 'thread' was worse, meh. Ah well.

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Originally Posted by nokinator

was that in the start date thread?? They really deleted those posts??

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Nah it was a rather large thread on its own.

When you do something a tad shajy in its PR foundations (IE: Stating very clearly that only "active" accounts are eligible and then letting in people with lapsed account over paying customers), it's best to explain the reasoning behind it (or own up to the mistake if it's just a mistake or a system problem), instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

Dealing with dissatisfied customers 101; Not to say that people have a right to be dissatisfied about it (they kinda do, but my opinion here is as good as yours), but many obviously are, and deleting their complaints isn't the right way to deal with them.

You are referring to the 40+ pages thread by Dragonheart?

I'll repost because I think it was lost with the other topic. As someone else explained it before: Anyone that bought XIV and played it even for a second has an active account. Unless they specifically went and deleted it from their S-E Acc page, they only had inactive characters, which means they did meet the first requirement of alpha. The bad choice of words is making the whole thing messy, though.

Also, I think that other topic might have been deleted for some other reasons, rather than just complaints ;)

How does anybody know people with inactive accounts got in? Plus it is alpha testing so more people would be left out than let in. Can not understand all the whining......

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Originally Posted by Recycler

You are referring to the 40+ pages thread by Dragonheart?

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Yep, that would be the one. Took me about 10 minutes to compose a balanced reply in it, only to be met by a "invalid thread" warning when I pressed post. My poor time...

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Nah it was a rather large thread on its own.

When you do something a tad shajy in its PR foundations (IE: Stating very clearly that only "active" accounts are eligible and then letting in people with lapsed account over paying customers), it's best to explain the reasoning behind it (or own up to the mistake if it's just a mistake or a system problem), instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

Dealing with dissatisfied customers 101; Not to say that people have a right to be dissatisfied about it (they kinda do, but my opinion here is as good as yours), but many obviously are, and deleting their complaints isn't the right way to deal with them.

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I was thinking maybe someone posted something that was against NDA, but I dunno. Even then you'd think they just delete the post, and not the entire thread. I'm not sure they did it to hide people's 'complaints' but I did think it's kinda wierd that it was completly just deleted, and apparently not just moved or closed (unless I'm missing it somewhere?), especially when there's a few other smaller threads with the same tone and topic.

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Originally Posted by Gokulo

I'll repost because I think it was lost with the other topic. As someone else explained it before: Anyone that bought XIV and played it even for a second has an active account.

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Nope. Sorry. That's a bit shaky a defense.

In no indutry that involves recurring fees and and in particular in no subscription game of this industry a lapsed account is referred to as "active". It's a very precise term not subject to interpretation.

An "active" account on pay 2 play games is an account where billing is still active and is still enabled to play. Lapsed accounts do not fit in that definition.

If SE really meant that (and I doubt it), then their wording was simply very much inappropriate, and criticism to it is very much warranted.

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Originally Posted by Exn

I was thinking maybe someone posted something that was against NDA, but I dunno. Even then you'd think they just delete the post, and not the entire thread. I'm not sure they did it to hide people's 'complaints' but I did think it's kinda wierd that it was completly just deleted, and apparently not just moved or closed (unless I'm missing it somewhere?), especially when there's a few other smaller threads with the same tone and topic.

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Exactly. It's basic moderation 101 to delete only offending posts in a thread, not the whole thread. Even in case the thread was considered inappropriate (and I saw no reasons why it would be), outright deletion should be considered an extreme measure only to be used in extreme cases, that's why mods have the lock button.

Anyone that ever moderated a forum in his life would consider that kind of action not really Kosher, as its's seen as a bad form of disprespect of all the people that took their time to post in that thread in a constructive and balanced manner, and there were many.

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Nah it was a rather large thread on its own.

When you do something a tad shajy in its PR foundations (IE: Stating very clearly that only "active" accounts are eligible and then letting in people with lapsed account over paying customers), it's best to explain the reasoning behind it (or own up to the mistake if it's just a mistake or a system problem), instead of trying to sweep it under the rug.

Dealing with dissatisfied customers 101; Not to say that people have a right to be dissatisfied about it (they kinda do, but my opinion here is as good as yours), but many obviously are, and deleting their complaints isn't the right way to deal with them.

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Yeah...

I see a lot of people disappointed today lots of anger, a lot of us are on all the time when not in RL activities but SE does not have to accompany us as much as people who dropped it early so i can see why those people got hits. thats not to say we dont care about testing its just the way it is atm.

i smell shame .. they must know they were wromg if they deleted that thread .

Redundant threads are...

well, not to meme but they're redundant. That is against forum rules. Wouldn't be surprised to see this thread go.

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Nope. Sorry. That's a bit shaky a defense.

In no indutry and no subscription game of this industry a lapsed account is referred to as "active". It's a very precise term not subject to interpretation.

An "active" account on pay 2 play game is an account where billing is still active and is still enabled to play. Lapsed accounts di not fit in that definition.

If SE really meant that (and I doubt it), then their wording was simply very much inappropriate, and criticism to it is very much warranted.

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The problem here would be that S-E differentiates between things. An active Final Fantasy XIV service accounts doesn't particularly mean you can play the game. It's just that you've created the service acc in S-E manager. After that you have "Options" that are required to play the game. Blame the convoluted system.

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Originally Posted by Lapulapu

Redundant threads are...

well, not to meme but they're redundant. That is against forum rules. Wouldn't be surprised to see this thread go.

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link me to the redundancy

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Originally Posted by Lapulapu

Redundant threads are...

well, not to meme but they're redundant. That is against forum rules. Wouldn't be surprised to see this thread go.

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A thread is not redundant just because you disagree with it. And even in case of redundant threads, basic moderation 101 would suggest merging or locking. Deletion is an extreme measure, and rather disrespectful of the posters' time.

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Originally Posted by Gokulo

The problem here would be that S-E differentiates between things. An active Final Fantasy XIV service accounts doesn't particularly mean you can play the game. It's just that you've created the service acc in S-E manager. After that you have "Options" that are required to play the game. Blame the convoluted system.

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Sorry but no. When you write rules within an industry, you use the lingo of that industy. You don't invent your own just to cause confusion. Besides, lapsed Final Fantasy XIV accounts aren't marked "active" anywhere, so your defence of an obvious PR blunder is a tad misplaced.

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Originally Posted by Gokulo

The problem here would be that S-E differentiates between things. An active Final Fantasy XIV service accounts doesn't particularly mean you can play the game. It's just that you've created the service acc in S-E manager. After that you have "Options" that are required to play the game. Blame the convoluted system.

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You also need an active account to post on these forums. And guess what, it means you are paying for the account not just "made it"

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Originally Posted by nokinator

link me to the redundancy

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http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-Alpha-invites
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ead-of-dispair
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...eres-my-inv-SE!

Not to mention the one they just deleted.

I'm not disagreeing with anyone I'm just saying that these threads all are very similar and we don't need 5 threads to talk about the same thing. Not hating on anyone.

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Originally Posted by Lapulapu

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-Alpha-invites
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...ead-of-dispair
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...eres-my-inv-SE!

Not to mention the one they just deleted.

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And why, pray tell, just that one (that exposed a rather large PR blunder, differently from the others) was deleted?

Around here we call this kind of attitude aimed at defending an indefensible course of action "climbing mirrors". They're slippery, and trying to climb em makes you look bloody awkward.

I'm neutral here but, how is this thread relevant to those 3?

That isn't redundant at all.

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Originally Posted by Abriael

Wow, they really went as far as deleting the thread abbout people with inactive accounts getting into the alpha.

That's quite bad form....

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Not really, they were just harvesting those fully ripened /ragetears.

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Originally Posted by Aenarion

Not really, they were just harvesting those fully ripened /ragetears.

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LOL Hope they don't drown!

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Originally Posted by Abriael

And why, pray tell, just that one (that exposed a rather large PR blunder, differently from the others) was deleted?

Around here we call this kind of attitude aimed at defending an indefensible course of action "climbing mirrors". They're slippery, and trying to climb em makes you look bloody awkward.

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lol just let go ..didn't get it? take a deep breath and..
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...43/561/afc.gif

I'm sure a lot of you have been around on these forums for a while and will recall that a thread can be disappeared by a moderator until they have had a chance to review it in full or pass it further up the chain of command. There's a chance that the thread will reappear at some point soon with an official response.

Just saying, it's happened before that way.

edit:
Was gonna say "CALLED IT!", but I see thar my post time was six mins after Qeep's, so now I just look like a twat. Oh well.

Yo Abriael, looks like the thread is back now! Maybe someone at SE finally heard ya! :)

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Originally Posted by Hippo

A poster in the JP forum suggested that Yoshida P should give a small gift in-game item to those who applied for Alpha / Beta test but didn't manage to get it. Something like a R/EX pair of cool sunglasses :)

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That would be thoughtful, at least you could strike a neat "deal with it" pose.

Just let it go. Lots of people applied, few got accepted.

Too late to cry over spilt milk? Obviously not.

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Originally Posted by Destain

Just let it go. Lots of people applied, few got accepted.

Too late to cry over spilt milk? Obviously not.

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Agreed, besides I think people are overlooking the fact if their selection process was transparent everyone would be tailoring their applications to get into the Alpha/Beta. The reason that doesn't bode well is because SE will likely be looking for different criteria's for different situations throughout the testing phase.

For example, lets say SE has one type of criteria but changes down the line (A, B, and C). If SE mentions the criteria and everyone tailored their application to Criteria A, then when SE needs to get input from different criteria they won't have enough B and C types to test what they would like, furthermore input for bug reporting wouldn't match up because everyone lied on their application making it more difficult to replicate and find major bugs in the system. (IE: If person is running an ATI card, but lied on his application and put down nVidia to match the application criteria SE might be looking in the wrong place when searching for a major bug.)

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Originally Posted by SwordCoheir

Agreed, besides I think people are overlooking the fact if their selection process was transparent everyone would be tailoring their applications to get into the Alpha/Beta.

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No kidding.

Right now:

-People enter their information as it is.
-SE picks the ones they require.

If SE declares their criteria:

-People enter their information...
-SE: "Odd.... it seems like 100% of all applicants all have the same OS, CPU, play time availability...... all these applications are identical except for the name!!!"

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Originally Posted by Warlock

lol just let go ..didn't get it? take a deep breath and..
http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/...43/561/afc.gif

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Your .gif is a thing of beauty /bow

its not like a SE executive sit on a pc looked all of the applied accounts for Alpha and started picking them up by himself so just deal with it more or less dont forget that its just 1 server (is it or is it not) and if half of it are JP quite imagine how to deal with many active players who submitted the application for alpha from around the world also think the server would handle it smoothly i doubt it tbh.
in the end if u didnt get in alpha theres another chance for a beta and if no beta you can just wait for the release.

It frustrates me that the XIV community thinks it can demand things from SquareEnix. Sure, we have a dev team that loves our input and replies often to feedback however threads like this and 90% of the threads lately are just angry gamers demanding this be changed or else, demanding to see this information or i'll leave forever, blah blah blah, it's pretty disrespectful in my opinion, THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING, they CHOOSE to do the PR work that they do and all half of this forum community does is flame the Dev team.