Q&A – So You Wanna Be a Play Tester?

Today we’re excited to bring you some insight into what a successful play tester application looks like, how play testing with AMG works, and how what we ask of play testers is different from open beta feedback. We had the chance to sit down with Development Manager Will Pagani who was more than happy to demystify the process and share some tips to make sure your application stands out.

When you’re looking through applications, what are you looking for?

We have play testers from every walk of life and every experience level – but normally when we put out a call it is because we feel we are lacking or low on a certain ‘type’ of tester. While we may know what type of tester we are looking for we never exclude a good applicant from another “bucket.” Good reports, clear explanations to the application questions, and well thought out answers will always have your application strongly considered. Having a diverse group of testers is very important to the process – competitively minded players do a great job at finding and assessing balance issues, exploits, or abusive behavior. Detail oriented testers find interpretation issues in rules writing and help point out errors in syntax and mechanical interactions. Casual play testers help address complexity and understanding of interactions. There are many types of players beyond this – but these are the common “buckets” we sort applicants into when we are looking for specific types.

What is the time commitment like for play testers working with AMG?

Generally, play test cycles run 6 weeks at a time and require 4 reports per cycle. A report is a session of games, which can be a single game or multiple with written feedback. This is why our first question on the application requests that you play a game and write up a detailed battle report, including lists of your forces, and the details of how each round fell out in regards to the choices you made and your expectations for how the force should play.

What kind of opportunities can becoming a play tester offer for folks hoping to enter a professional life in the game industry?

Our play test positions are paid contract positions – so in some ways you’re already in! However, if you’re looking to go full or part time into the industry, having relevant job experience is a huge plus when resumes are reviewed. You can learn a lot about how games are created and developed through the play testing process and interacting with the developers of the games. As with anything, you get out of it what you put in when it comes to networking, educating yourself on how game studios are structured, and how responsibilities are laid out for different roles.

What are some of the biggest challenges new play testers face? The pitfalls?

I think many new testers are very used to playing finished, developed characters or units and sometimes can lose sight that these are the first external drafts of things. There absolutely will be problems and issues with these, sometimes absurdly game breaking. Play test games may not be fun because of gross imbalance (in either direction – far too strong, not strong enough, or in the case of missions/scenarios, non-functional!) that can lead to rather un-fun experiences. Our hope is that those kinks are worked out before anything leaves the studio to external testing, but that is not always the case.

The second major pitfall can be a combative mind set. Adversarial conversations are NEVER the goal of play test. Not all feedback is actionable, but we always work with our testers to discuss and understand the roots of their feedback. That doesn’t mean the developers will always do what the testers suggest but they will collaborate with them to understand the feedback and thought processes behind it. They will then take that feedback and apply it to the items being tested with regard to what those items need and with a view toward how it might connect to future items.

What’s the difference between being a play tester and participating in an open beta?

External play testing is a much more involved process than participating in feedback on an open beta. During an external play test process play testers will have direct communication with the developers of the games and have conversations with them about various parts of the game and their reports. Open testing still involves playing games with the new rules, units, characters, or other content but does not involve direct discussions and conversations with the developers. External testing is much more focused and directed testing, feedback, and conversations where Open testing relies on a number of reports to identify trends and issues and apply changes based on that feedback.

Thank you for joining us for today’s transmission. The best way to become an AMG play tester is to look out on social media for when we put out application requests for particular game lines. As we move forward, we’ll do our best to set deadlines for applications so you know how much time you have to submit as well as our best estimate on when applicants will start hearing whether they’re moving forward. We look forward to your future submissions!