Issue #10: QA: THE RIDE

[AtlusAram]

http://www.atlus.com/res/productiondiaries_101508.png (http://www.atlus.com/pd.php)

http://www.atlus.com/res/otorelse415.jpg

"Being paid to play games is something many of us Atlus
fans dream about, and for the most part, testing is a very
rewarding experience. As a tester, you get incredibly valuable
first-hand experience in a fast-moving, dynamic industry...
This Production Diary gets to be all about that critical period
in a project's lifetime where testers get to go all out: the
crunch!"

http://www.atlus.com/res/clickforproductiondiary.png (http://www.atlus.com/pd.php)

[dragonlife29]

*Right-click*
*Save Image As...*
*WTF.gif*

First thing that caught my attention, haha.

Sheesh, testers must have an iron will because QA does not sound fun to me. At all; but I guess it depends on the games that testers, well...test. I love RPGs, but holy moly would I dread testing one!

So, what do you guys do to with games that don't have a debug option? Just play them normally?

[Xfraze]

Thanks for diaries. It's interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes since no one really seems to talk about it much.

[Master Zombots]

It is interesting to see the things that go on "behind the scenes". Keep the diaries coming, Atlus! :)

[White Rob]

So, what do you guys do to with games that don't have a debug option? Just play them normally?

Yea, we just have to play through them without any aid. If that is the case we usually abuse save data (sometimes even assigning multiple memory cards to each tester), so that we can go back to any part of a game quickly. Most games we work on have some semblance of debug, thankfully.

[Rise]

Debug = sanity retention +50.
That is all. XD

[maanto]

Nice article.
I always find it hard to explain what testing is like without breaking my NDA, but I thought you managed to do a great job explaining it without going into too much technicalities and foreign terms that testers are too familiar with being used in the industry. It's definately not for everyone, and I do agree about being hard to keep sanity in check, especially during the crunch phase. Or as I like to call it (air thick with sarcasm), the Happy Fun-Time Phase.

Personally, I've only been involved with one RPG in the past. Reading your article brought back some memories, good and not-so-good, of that time.

It's great QA test like you guys that really make it worth while for us Atlus fans.
Keep up the great work Atlus USA test team! :)

[jeffx]

the few beta testers I know are total buzzkills (but then again they don't work for Atlus)

[dragonlife29]

I have no idea when you guys start brainstorming/writing for the next PD, but I'd like to throw out a couple ideas I'm interested in seeing (in the form of questions):

What's the process of getting a game rated? Do you show the ESRB the most extreme of certain things? (Themes, violence, etc.) What's the time frame of it all? From when you release a trailer with the RP rating (or the black with white box thing) to when you release another with the set rating, and anything in between. Does anyone die from decisions/exhaustion, etc. during that time?

How are manuals made? Also, what's the process of shipping? I'd like to know how involved you guys are with the factory that does the boxing of the games. I was going to bug the "How It's Made" (show) people by suggesting this topic, but they could've already done it and I missed it--who knows. (I did see Ubisoft making Prince of Persia: Sands of Time on the show, though! =O)

[RayFoxSith]

Okay, who's the 4chan troll in Atlus?

[Zephyr01]

I must be thick because I can't seem to find this particular article.

When I click on Production Diaries I get taken to 'Creating an Art Book'. And on the list of titles above I can't see 'Q.A. The Ride' anywhere.

Can someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.

[Soushi_Grapple]

I must be thick because I can't seem to find this particular article.

When I click on Production Diaries I get taken to 'Creating an Art Book'. And on the list of titles above I can't see 'Q.A. The Ride' anywhere.

Can someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance.


I'm having the same problem. =(

[Thunder-Slash]

Can't seem to find it also.

[King Frost]

The link should be:

REMOVED, it's not right after all...

Quite easy to figure out if you take a look at the links of the other production diaries.

[Soushi_Grapple]

That just takes me to "Breaking the Code"..

[dragonlife29]

Oh, wow, you guys are right!

Atlus USA conspiracy!?

[King Frost]

Oh, wow, you guys are right!

Atlus USA conspiracy!?

Probably not, simply the web developer(s) which is not taking a look at the forums and didn't take his/her coffee before pasting the link in the original post.

[Zephyr01]

It's good to know I'm not the only one unable to find it.


Whatever they've done it's not good.


I wonder if anyone will read this thread and help me/us out? *Crosses fingers*

[Soushi_Grapple]

Looks like the mods are watching this topic and will get it fixed for us soon ^_^ We just have to be patient. They can't read minds, so at the very least if a link is broken we should let them know. I'm sure its just a minor script error or something.

[Heretic]

testing is a hard job, but someone's got to do it!

*puts hard-hat back on and gets back to work*

[Onion of Mystery]

I'd think your grammar and capitalization would be better if you worked QA at a localization company.