Blocking Open Beta from public multiplayer

Again missed the point (three times, its in the title too) that it's not banned from MP, it's removed from public browsers. Still being available, you can still play multiplayer in OB, but you need to use the ED website or have the IP to find the server. It reduces the public MP and large servers should choose to use Live instead.

The problem is that servers like Blue Flag are on the forefront of detecting bugs, especially MP/server related bugs. Their huge crows is one of the main reasons for this. If they would move to the Stable and hence get lost for the OB, then this bug detecting ability would get lost as well and more MP/server related bugs would hit the Stable. That becomes especially problematic if it is a gamebreaking bug and there is no stable for the server to roll back to, as there is now when the server is running on the OB. Blue Flag and its admin team especially are working with ED to use their server to test new things, like the dedicated server feature. I would like that to continue as it improves DCS for everyone.

Besides that, I personally want to play on the OB to get fixes early and not having to wait additional time for them.

If ED finished all the early access modules tomorrow and moved them over onto the stable release then there would be no need for me to use the open beta as much.

What Pikey says about the Multiplayer OB would then make even more sense As there would more encouragement to use the stable release.

This however comes with other issues more centred around the EA model.

If ED finished all the early access modules tomorrow and moved them over onto the stable release then there would be no need for me to use the open beta as much.

 

What Pikey says about the Multiplayer OB would then make even more sense As there would more encouragement to use the stable release.

 

This however comes with other issues more centred around the EA model.

Early Access for modules is a different topic and independent from the Stable/OB issue, as EA modules are available in the Stable and the OB.

If multiplayer was removed from the open beta, how would multiplayer related bugs that escaped closed testing be found?

 

Also, how would this be compatible with new modules coming into DCS? People would have to wait possibly a month or two to use a new module in multiplayer and that is unacceptable.

 

The first thing I do is try out new modules with friends in multiplayer, if that is removed my interest in DCS will go with it.

You are answering oranges to apples.

Re-read what Pikey has thoroughly explained and you could have saved yourself a post.

Cheers :beer:

By the way, generally I agree with Pikey. I and my group exclusively fly in Release branch (we have no time, due to real life constraints, to hassle with instability issues and troubleshooting cycles) and have missed lots of otherwise great MP servers and events or online flights with other groups because of this Release vs OB segmentation.

You are answering oranges to apples.

 

Re-read what Pikey has thoroughly explained and you could have saved yourself a post.

 

Cheers :beer:

 

 

By the way, generally I agree with Pikey. I and my group exclusively fly in Release branch (we have no time, due to real life constraints, to hassle with instability issues and troubleshooting cycles) and have missed lots of otherwise great MP servers and events or online flights with other groups because of this Release vs OB segmentation.

BS the OP is specific in "Remove access to Multiplayer for dedicated servers on Open Beta DCS branch." It's even in his title!

He backtracked further down when many of us called him out on it. Limiting MP in any way shape or form is just wrong and won't work as been spelt out numerous times.

Well, maybe I didn't track the sequence of the posts thoroughly myself.

Anyway to add some of my thoughts on the subject I (if I were ED) would not remove any feature from OB but make it Limited OB.

This would re-focus its main goal of having a large user-base feedback (Bug Reports) while not fragmenting so much the MP critical mass and not slowing DCS development.

It could be implemented by way of free subscription with user commitment to make proper Bug Reports that, by verification of their quality and pertinence, would extend the subscription time.

I'm sure that many users would contribute to this and maybe the flow of quality Bug Reports would even increase in exchange of the reward of feature early releases.

The common users, like myself, would benefit of having more/better MP servers and events and the underlying benefit of fixes and updates coming round from better Bug Reporting.

My thoughts,

Cheers:beer:

That may produce a completely different outcome: Less beta testers would mean more bugs slipping through beta to stable, especially MP exclusive bugs.

Exactly this. The MP people would then encounter all the same bugs but now on "stable" and the bitching would be even more epic than it already is. And the backlash would be worse since stable is supposed to work.

I don't really have a better proposal for it aside from the aforementioned more "pre-beta" testing. Maybe take the top few MP servers and have ED test their new code on them first? IDK if that makes sense.

Well, maybe I didn't track the sequence of the posts thoroughly myself.

 

 

Anyway to add some of my thoughts on the subject I (if I were ED) would not remove any feature from OB but make it Limited OB.

 

This would re-focus its main goal of having a large user-base feedback (Bug Reports) while not fragmenting so much the MP critical mass and not slowing DCS development.

 

It could be implemented by way of free subscription with user commitment to make proper Bug Reports that, by verification of their quality and pertinence, would extend the subscription time.

 

I'm sure that many users would contribute to this and maybe the flow of quality Bug Reports would even increase in exchange of the reward of feature early releases.

 

The common users, like myself, would benefit of having more/better MP servers and events and the underlying benefit of fixes and updates coming round from better Bug Reporting.

 

My thoughts,

 

Cheers:beer:

Again limiting any version of the game would be a terrible idea. By your "subscription model" each person would be forced to submit their own "bug report" even if it has already been submitted dozens or hundreds of times, clogging up either the forums or the bug reporting tool.

Too many people are over dramatizing the actual issue. Some OB bugs made it past their QC (because they are mostly MP bugs) that caused some major issues, but are slowly being dealt with. It only happened once before since DCS 2.0 came out!!!

No need to change the entire way people access the game. No need to limit people's access to either MP or SP.

So far most servers have patched to 2.5.6 latest build and no game breaking bugs.

Just take a step back and breathe!! It's a game, it will have bugs, but they will eventually all get fixed.