It varies. Most of the time there aren't any games to beta trial, then all of a sudden there will be 2 or 3 come along all at once. When there is a game to beta test, there are usually 2 - 4 evenings over the course of a fortnight (e.g. Tuesdays & Thursdays) where you play the game for a couple of hours each test night. I guess there are 4 test nights as not everyone will be able to make each of the nights. The tests are often for server load but they also ask for feedback on the games.
It sounds good but in reality it isn't always. Sometimes there are some good games to beta test (Battlefield 3 and Starhawk are two I enjoyed) whereas other games we test are a bit pants to say the least!
Most beta tests are private ones only open to us beta testers (unlike public beta tests which are open to everyone). When we're participating in a private beta test we're under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which means we aren't allowed to discuss the beta with anyone outside of the beta testing and we're not supposed to post about the beta test on any forums apart from the EU Playstation Beta forums (which is why we don't have a secret beta forum here). The funny thing is, you can see the games we are beta testing when you look at what we are playing on test nights on PSN!
I was looking to see how you could become a beta tester if you were interested. I found
this post over on the PS forums but it looks like they are currently full and not recruiting at present. Have a read of this though and keep an eye out for beta tester recruitment in the future.
). I know Martok is a beta triallist, and I just wondered if we had any more amongst the Senior brethren?
