'The Spike' Beta Testing and Community Management

Investigation:

I always had an interest in watching volleyball and playing volleyball with my friends. Because of that, I also had an interest in volleyball games. There were tons of games for other sports like football and basketball, but I couldn't find a game that contains the fast- paced and thrilling pace of volleyball. However, when I found 'The Spike' on Play Store, I was instantly hooked. The game had great sounds and effects which really helped deliver the feels of playing volleyball. In mid-2020, the developer of the game had made an announcement that he is looking for volunteers to test out the PC version of The Spike, which would have it's own exclusive content but need to be purchased unlike the mobile version. I wrote an mail to the developer explaining where I am currently living and how I can help him with my knowledge in the English language. I then accepted into the beta testing, and my CAS project began.

Preparation:

Because this was my first time ever participating in a closed beta test for an upcoming game while communicating with the developer, I had to prepare myself a bit. I obviously needed great communication skills as well as management skills as I was one of the people responsible for managing the beta testers group chat. I always made sure to devote at least 30 minutes everyday into testing the game as well as communicating with other beta testers and the developers in order to catch any bugs or problems for the game.

Action:

As I started playing the game, I needed some time to adjust to the new controls for PC. I have realized some differences such as the slow-mo effect which was not on the mobile version. As I continued testing I discovered some bugs, which some where game-crashing bugs. I made sure to report the bug to the bug reporting groupchat and made sure that no one posts a same bug in order to make the developer's job easier. Some difficulties that I ran into were not having enough time to play the game everyday or having difficulties with my Korean as my grammar would sometimes be inaccurate and I would have to search on Google if my grammar is correct. When I didn't have enough time to play the game for a day, I would make sure to devote my time on other days where I am more free. For my communication in Korean language, I installed an auto correct app on my phone which helped me out a lot.

Reflection:

Overall, I was really enjoying my experience throughout this CAS project. It was really great to participate in the development of a game that I really liked, and the sense of belonging I gained throughout the beta testing period was really fun. I also had the privilege to have my name put in the credits of the game, which I think is a huge accomplishment for me. After the beta testing period ended, the game was released globally but there wasn't a solid community to hear news about the game for the global audience. Therefore, I decided to launch a new subreddit on reddit named r/thespikegame to translate some contents that the developer shows in Korean to English as well as answer questions that new users might have.

Demonstration:

(My Korean name and my online nickname written in the credits of the game)