[SU6 Beta] Can we have a private forum area for beta testers to share experiences

To better support collaboration and sharing of experiences, can we have a private area of the forums set up for beta testers to be able to share experiences and issues to better support bug/feedback logging through the Feedback Hub?

Sharing the feedback received so far on the process for this particular flight:

  • Canā€™t Communicate workarounds to each other

  • Not fully NDA

  • Feedback would be private instead of public on the Feedback Hub

  • On forums, Users can check in with each other, confirm bugs by testing together (debugging), share test cases, etc.

  • Anti-community oriented

  • It makes the whole experience off putting and, frankly, boring. The interaction with fellow testers was a big part of the fun of the beta process.

  • We canā€™t talk about 3rd party mods which is at the heart and souls of what MSFS is all about. This feedback hub is sterile and not as friendly to have long winded discussion about specific issue.

  • There is the bug where some users cannot select Flight Simulator as the application. If it were for the forums, I would be able to immediately start reading and giving feedback.

28 Likes

For SU5 we had got some 3rd party compatibility updates in the private forum to test which was great

Let them set the conditions, if they thought it would be useful it would have happened already

Just make it public preview and remove ridiculous NDA

4 Likes

I would like to add two more points:

  • There is the bug where I (and some other users) cannot select Flight Simulator as the application. If it were for the forums, I would be able to immediately start reading and giving feedback.

  • From the looks of it, official announcements cannot be made in the hub, so now they have to be posted publically in the forums, once again defeating the purpose of the NDA.

2 Likes

Could anyone find these reports in their feedback hub?

hello,

yes, it was hard but here is

1 Like

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks for the effort! No offense, but canā€™t see the exactly same topics. However since you posted a pic, I tried to find ā€œyourā€ hits and no luck for example with the G1000, or TBM930, just something what Iā€™ve seen earlier in my feed. The feedback hub is not ā€œdiscussionā€ friendly as we are limited by some rules

I agree 100% that we need to have a place to discuss the beta.

If you take that away, the whole point of signing up to be an unpaid beta tester is lost - you should just hire some more QA people if you want everything reported via Feedback Hub.

As a tester from the Tech Alpha days, 90% of the motivation for testing comes from the feeling that Iā€™m part of a community of like-minded enthusiasts, all sharing knowledge and experience and bugs. The discussions are worth their weight in gold and Iā€™m stunned that you (MS/Asobo) decided to not have a discussion area.

Iā€™m perfectly OK with posting the bugs to Feedback Hub (though itā€™s hilarious that itā€™s immediately public - whatā€™s the point of an NDA then, I might as well post it on the forum directly), but if you donā€™t have a discussion area then Iā€™m pretty sure Iā€™ll test it for a day or two and then give up because thereā€™s no point doing it without the interaction - then itā€™s just a job, and Iā€™m not getting paid for this.

13 Likes

Having a place to discuss with other testers would be helpful in confirming if an issue is a one off, or if multiple people are experiencing it.

2 Likes

Agree your points. And then thereā€™s zendeskā€¦

I donā€™t recall any complaints around the private forum format thatā€™s been here since Alpha and it was never mentioned it would be changed yet this is the consistent communication ā€˜styleā€™ we are given. They say they are listening, but the actions like this show otherwise.

You may end up with a situation where the testers en masse decide to move to a different forum to discuss things. Yes, that would be breaking NDA, but since the Feedback Hub itself is breaking NDA, I donā€™t know how you can do anything about it, short of kicking all testers out of the beta (obviously people would be using different names on any other forum).

Itā€™s just a absolutely silly decision to

  1. Ban all discussion because NDA!!
  2. Make all feedback instantly public

It makes me feel like Iā€™m being treated like a child/idiot.

And finally - the Feedback Hub has my NAME on itā€¦ yes, itā€™s my first name, but itā€™s still my real name, and I do NOT want to post my real name on feedback for a game. Heaven knows thereā€™s enough personal information out on the internet, and I for one refuse to make any more info about me public. So nah, I will not be posting anything on the Feedback Hub.

Iā€™ll test things, and since you are getting telemetry from my system youā€™ll hopefully be able to get some valuable info, but if not, cā€™est la vie.

5 Likes

Feedback hub isnā€™t breaking NDA that feedback goes straight to the appropriate people. What do you mean?

Edit: Nevermind, problem reporting different on Windows. There is no hub and topics to vote on on Xbox. My B.

As another point.

The feedback hub isnā€™t very user friendly when trying to select the appropriate APP. I had dozens of options based on my installed programs, but I didnā€™t have an easy way to find MSFS short of scrolling through a very long list.

I would still like to see a more bespoke tool within the simulator, for quick reporting that includes relevant technical data straight to the dev team, but even if that were to exist, there should be some sort of public(ish), discussion board, as it allows testers to collaborate.

p.s. Where is the best place to leave feedback about the testing process? I have another point that would probably breach NDA to discuss publically.

We indeed need a private forum. You guys will miss tons of feedbacks without it.
Bad move, really.
Voted.

I think most has been said and acknowledged already, but im gonna add my opinion anyway.
I would prefer the old way over this, because:

I can read trought the beta forums ANYTIME. On work PC, at my Smartphone, my iPad, anywhere, everywhere and keep up to date about reported bugs, workarounds, etc. I can then also interact and add my findings or workarounds. With the insider-hub, i cant. I can only do this from my personal PC at home and that is usually the one i spend the least of my time.

If i find a bug, i can easily find in the forum if its already reported or not, on the FB-Hub its way more inconvinient and again, i can only do it from my personal PC at home, where i am not as much.

The FB-Hub will introduce lots of double-posts instead of having one thread to go trough.

No intereaction possible to add additional Info/ask question how to reproduce.

With the old method i can find a bug during my freetime and report it the day after from mobile devices, work PC etc. With the FB-Hub i can only doing it from my Sim-PC which leaves me with less time testing. So, the new way is less effective in the end.

In the last beta there was so much good info and discussions about an issues that helped the devs greatly, this will not be possible anymore.

3rd party devs were able to share updates for their products in the Beta-Forum so we testers could use them, this is not possible anymore.

It is just weird to put an NDA in place but then make the whole bugreporting public.

I hope we will go back to the forums again next time, as i dont see me using the Hub a lot.

5 Likes

Hey Jayne,

Another issue is that those in the Asia/AU region have to be up at 3am or so to access this.

It was not available when I checked before I went to bed, and full when I woke upā€¦

I was very keen to help test SU6 as 5 hasnā€™t gone well for me at all.

Something to considerā€¦

1 Like

You could even apply the day later and still have a spot. Its not that it was ā€œsold outā€ in hours.

This is where an opt-in beta works be fine for everyone, hopefully something we get before long for updates.