JSt0rm
Lifer
- Sep 5, 2000
- 27,399
- 3,947
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First off, the link you posted initially for this has completely different wording than your post.
As a developer myself I can tell you that alpha tests are done with a very small group of users usually, not a huge playerbase, and is rarely feature complete. I've alpha tested many applications and games over my lifetime including some RPG games like Everquest, Asheron's Call, and a few others. I can also tell you that I've never seen an alpha release test sequence that was feature complete. In fact, most of the time the alpha testing is designed to specifically get feedback to decide upon features for the product based on some preliminary features in the demo to see if the current features work, what doesn't work, and what has to be changed.
Saying SC is in alpha is currently the correct term. Per-alpha would be internal testing only. Since there is some user group testing it is considered alpha. Now BETA tends to be more feature complete.
But for those that would like other sources on the definition of Alpha testing.
https://www.centercode.com/blog/2011/01/alpha-vs-beta-testing/
http://istqbexamcertification.com/what-is-alpha-testing/
http://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/what-is-alpha-testing-beta-testing/
In fact I can't find a single link in the first 10 pages on google when searching for "alpha testing software" that state that an alpha test has to be feature complete at the time the test is being run.
In fact, they all practically state it is the first form of in-house acceptance testing with some bits of user testing of feature sets to see if the work for the users. Most alpha tests are meant to be buggy, not all assets put in place, and not all features implemented either.
if the wording is different then someone changed it since I posted. Thats lol worthy in itself.