Origin Exposition

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Written by BuckGB on December 2nd, 2000

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Hello,

It’s been a few weeks since my last letter, and things are starting to come together quite nicely. We now have Test Center up and running, which is where the Pre-Alpha phase of the External Test will occur. Currently, a date for this has not been set, but our internal testers are moving around the world and testing systems as we speak. In the meantime, I’d like to give you a little more detail as to how we will conduct the test.

It will be divided into several phases, each phase consisting of specific entrance and exit criteria. This includes the Pre-Alpha phase, meaning we have certain entrance requirements that must be met before that phase can even begin. Some examples of these criteria are servers staying up for specified periods of time, no client crashes, etc. We absolutely will not begin the External Test or move into the next phase until the specified criteria for each phase have been met. In addition, with each phase the criteria become more and more stringent, ensuring stability and quality when we ship.

We will also be taking into account the overall tester mood when moving from phase to phase. This factor is not as easy to measure, but we feel it is equally important. The development team has committed itself to incorporating community feedback into the game’s design, and the test will be no different. If our criteria have been met at a certain phase, but the majority of the testers feel that there is an outstanding issue that must be addressed, then we will certainly listen.

Since my last letter some time ago, I know some of you have begun speculating that Pre-Alpha testing has already begun. This information is incorrect. For the record, Pre-Alpha testing has not yet begun and testers have not yet been notified. I would like to provide you with a date; however, we’re just going to have to wait until everything falls into place and the entrance requirements have been met. I assure you that we will make an announcement once the Pre-Alpha phase of the External Test is underway.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight as to how we are approaching the External Test. We are dedicated to shipping a quality, stable game, and we are confident that this is the best way to go about doing it, no matter how long it takes. More coming soon…

Craig "Usul" McDonald
Online Testing Coordinator
Ultima Worlds Online: ORIGIN

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