Okay, i got a rant

Freemantle

<div class="IPBDescription">Playtest selection</div>To whom it may concern,

    I was in the Natural Selection Forums at the time of playtester selection (though not registered). I was fine with not being a playtester. I knew that you made them sign an NDA (or agree to one)and that this would be a up-close and personal playtest where there is lots of communication between the select group of playtesters (I believe it was fifteen at the time) and the Developers.
    It was shown in a news article that Natural Selection was distributed at a lan of Tribes 2 junkies. I have been waiting a long time for Natural-Selection to come out. I am a Tribes 2 junkie myself, but that is no excuse to make me think I should see the game more than anyone else. I'm a forum member who diligently follows the game. That does not owe me special rights.
    A forum member, Hellfire2k3, brought to our attention that NS games could be watched through a third party server monitoring system, like gametiger.com. I didn't think much of this. After waiting on IRC for the longest period, doing anyhting to pass the time until Natural-Selection was released, I logged into gametiger.com st check on the scores. There were Eleven people playing.
    Of them, I didn't even recognize three names. I went back to #naturalselection to try and understand why. Comprox simply stated...

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<Comprox> cause Flay took it to a few lans
<Comprox> if you had read the news
<Freemantle> I did
<Freemantle> He kept them PT's?
<Comprox> and he is getting some clan opinions
<Freemantle> "Lexual"  like this guy?
<Comprox> yes
<Comprox> and I really don't feel like arguing to point
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JediYoshi said he thinks one of them is a CS nation writer, which I think is fine. But what of all these playtesters from lans and clans that are playing our beloved NS? To me, it seems that they are giving NS to everyone except the general public, and us, but according to Comprox...

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<Comprox> general public = people at LANS
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At this point I feel very injusticed. There are now tons of people diluting the Natural Selection playtester-developer relationship. They may be qualified, but it is the fact that it <i>means</i> more to us than it does to them. An anonymous playtester stated that many of these people <u>don't even talk in the game</u>, much less in IRC or the Forums. Tell me, do you think a players with obscure clan names form other mods care about the growth and quality of Natural Selection? Or are they just in it for the ride?

This is where you decide...

Redford

... so what's the problem again?

Hot_Soup

perhaps they simply want an impartial opinion?

Freemantle

I agree, but that is no excuse to keep them as playtesters. Most of them don't even speak. Their comments are for the most part
<b>Dudeguy</b>:Wow!

and

<b>Dudeguy</b>:What do they mean by "weilder"?

and other nonsense like that. These are things that bring down the Developer-Playtester relationship. Fifteen playtesters are enough. Otherwise, I see no reason why these people are more qualified to test Natural-Selection then the rest of us.

Ramses

They're not more qualified than the rest of us, but that's not the point.
The Dev-Teams want to get opinions from clan-players and they don't want people that are already ns-addicted to see if there are some flaws that a ns-fan wouldn't noticed (learning-curve for example).

Thats what i think...

Gwahir

well ranted.  I am inclined to feel similarly to you, though I was only around since April, missing the playtester selection.  

If they don't comment, I find the point of their further inclusion moot.

Greedo

The people you've never heard of?  Some of them are helping us with the Linux server.  If you had a Linux server to donate for testing, you could have played.  Some of them are 'big types' in the HL mod scene.  Their input is quite valid in determining playability, how the game will go over with people in their mod community, and hopefully they'll also help with some publicity.  Some of them are friends of Flayra, so he can be there watching them play, he can actually talk to them, and he can get honest, real time feedback.  Some of them were at the UVA lan last weekend, and these people hadn't heard of NS before.  This means they can help bring up any issues with learning curves and other things like that.  Also, these newcomers can bring new strategies to the game from their experience, strategies that most playtesters have never heard of, or even thought of.  Balance, in this part, is the key issue.

I respect your feelings.  I really do.  But this discussion won't get anyone anywhere, and will only end up with hurt feelings.