Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play

The Halo 3 Multiplayer Public Beta went public on May 16th, 2007. I had the honor of receiving an invitation to play in the Friends and Family wave which started 5 days before the public wave began. Before we begin discussing the details of this exciting game, let’s go over what a beta is.

• beta – A version of an application that is made available prior to the official release for the purposes of testing.
• beta – The second stage a software program goes through before a final is released. Software undergoes rigorous testing until it is ready to be released.
• beta – a test version of a product, such as a Web site or software, prior to final release.

From nukethemfromOrbit.com : (and my apologies to Microsoft fanboys everywhere for quoting something relevant to PS)

There are some truths that apply to all PS2 beta tests.

1. It’s beta software. It sucks. It is in no way, shape, form, or function what the developer will be pushing out the door when they are doing it for real.
2. 60% of the people testing will complain that the game sucks and that “it’ll be a cold day in hell before they buy the real game if this is what it’s going to be like”.
3. 30% of the people testing will spend 95% of their time convincing the 60% that think the games sucks that Truth #1 applies.
4. The remaining 10% will do the actual testing, of which about 5% will simply adore the game and find no faults with it.

Those things being said, I am highly interested in discussing the beta. I would love to talk about the things that work well, and I would love to talk about the things that need improvement. I will not listen to people that phrase their thoughts in the “this sucks” manner. If you have a way you think the game can be improved, tell Bungie in a constructive way. Insults do not help at all. Constructive suggestions do.

The Halo 3 Beta Series
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10