Translations (JP to English)

[Betelgeuzah]

I think you're confused. What you explained would not be a public test server, that kind of stuff is tested internally, for the exact reasons you stated. Public test servers are so the community can test the finished ideas/products as soon as they are functional. Instead of pushing enmity changes into a live environment, a test server would ensure that it is tested, feedback is collected, then fine tune adjustments can be made before it goes live for the world to see. As it stands right now, they push it live for the world to see, then admit their mistake when people don't like it, and backpedal. This is why people are so frustrated with this game right now.

Wrong. They push it out as soon as it is functional because the game is better off that way. Not everyone is going to like the changes, and testing won't change that fact.

There's a reason why beta testing starts so late in a game development's lifespan (read: when the features are functional).

There needs to be a test environment. Dungeons should not go live before community testing, game changing mechanics should not go live before community testing. They are leaving us in the dark and we have no way of giving Square any kind of constructive feedback until the walls are already painted.

You just said they are implemented when deemed functional. There is absolutely no point in testing them before that, aside from bugs. You are contradicting yourself.

They release them as soon as they can be tested. The walls are not painted.

It's like if you're making a dinner for a group of people but you're inexperienced (I think SE has oddly proved their lack of experience, especially with Yoshi-P) with cooking, you put something together and taste it. But unless you have a proven good taste (Square doesn't), you'll probably want a second outside opinion before sending your dinner out to a bunch of people. It sure would suck to make that dinner and find out the meat wasn't done well enough for half the people or something, wouldn't it?

Analogues... great. Just great.

The dinner isn't ready when they send it out for second opinion. It's not just a bunch of ingredients either. It's at the point where you can actually taste the flavour, but it's still slightly raw.

This is why analogues are crap. You don't compare a meal to an MMORPG without missing the obvious.

And you know who is the main audience and who are the guinea pigs testing? The 30k or so players have no better purpose, might as well use them. The food needs to be ready for the real audience. You are not a part of it. You are a paid beta tester playing the game voluntarily, regardless of what you think, for all intents and purposes.