2. Run Your Beta Right Tricks and tips you can use to maximize the impact of your beta to have a more successful product launch.

3. Presenters  Jonathan Hanna  Senior Producer, Kaneva, Inc.  Richard Weil  Community Director

4. Top Issues for  Acquisition – get them to play!  Retention – keep them! LiveBeta

5. Beta = Live  Remember this mantra through all phases of beta and you can’t go wrong!  Treat your beta community as you would a live community.  Most players in your beta aren’t there to test – they are previewing the game.

6. Purposes of Beta Outside of Product Testing  Building a community.  Setting a tone.  Building a contact list.  Defining your internal processes, community, publishing, customer support.  Marketing/PR.  Test new ideas, take advantage of the small group of players, etc.

7. Necessary Evils of Beta  Character wipes.  Server downtimes.  Multiple game updates.  Stress Tests.  NDA.  We have to do these, but they cause churn, so do so sparingly.

8. Inviting Players  Invite players in groups such as guilds.  Give players tools to register for beta as a group (and add others later).  Playing with friends makes the beta more fun.  Don’t churn through signups just to hit beta goals.

9. Setting Expectations  Don’t interact more than you think you will during live. (common mistake)  Set the correct expectation for community contributions. (don’t let them think they are co-developing the game)

10. Making the Beta Fun  Run events to focus testing.  Should players expect that level of event effort in live?  Rewards and contests.  Be careful to set expectations.

11. Feedback  Beta is like a large focus test.  Be aggressive with surveys, in game and out.  Talk to the beta players who churned out.  Track metrics early and often, churn is important even during beta.  Don’t drink the kool-aid, speak up when there are issues.

12. Beta as a Sales Tool  Don’t let the NDA keep you from using the Beta community to sell your game.  Find ways to let Beta players talk about the game in positive ways.  Beta Journals, Q&As, etc.  Combat the negative NDA breaks proactively.

13. Don’t Forget the Non-Beta Players  They’re not in the beta, but they’re still vital  Talk about the beta, don’t let your own NDA handcuff your communications  Get them excited about the Beta without making them upset about not being in

14. Summary  Treat Beta like Live.  Set expectations.  Test procedures.  Be wary of the necessary evils.  Make the Beta fun!

15. Q&A