Cant make the previews - NDA?

[Chad Harrison]

Hey all

I am no where near any of the previews, so I was curious what would end up here on the forums after the previews. I came across this in the Sydney preview thread:

1. Firstly NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreement)

There is no formal signed agreement however your attendance (or watching the video stream) signifies your agreement to the following:

An acknowledgement that the product is not complete and that some parts are still a "work in progress".

A commitment not to publicly talk about (or publish screenshots or photos of) what you saw in more than generalisations.

So does this mean that after the previews happen there will be nothing posted here about what was shown or said? I mean from either the BFC, testers or atendees?

Also, what video stream? Is that something local, or something that us who are not attending could watch? I am available anytime to watch a live stream by the way

Thanks in advance

Chad

Edit: Per Gibsonm's post below, looks like I cut out the second bit of the NDA statement below.

[gibsonm]

Those NDA comments were what Steve said he’d be happy for someone to agree to before they turned up.

No idea why the others haven’t posted them too.

Also you forgot the key word “generalisations” and the sample examples that follow it (selective quoting doesn’t help) .

Of course what you meant to quote was”

1. Firstly NDAs (Non Disclosure Agreement)

There is no formal signed agreement however your attendance (or watching the video stream) signifies your agreement to the following:

An acknowledgement that the product is not complete and that some parts are still a "work in progress".

A commitment not to publicly talk about (or publish screenshots or photos of) what you saw in more than generalisations.

So:

“The Infantry modelling was cool” is fine.

“The Infantry modelling needs work” is fine.

“Here’s a picture of a Sherman that I took” is not fine.

“The boot strap on the 2nd rifleman is all f**ked up” is not fine.

So someone may well post something here to the effect of “The Infantry modelling needs work” or not.

The video stream is something I’m trying to work on.

It assumes the Sydney preview happens at my place (if we need to go somewhere else due to capacity issues, I have no idea about available bandwidth).

Also it would happen in my time zone (LIMA) (no idea how that relates to Idaho).

[Chad Harrison]

Gibsonm

Ha, to be honest, the first time I read that and then posted that, I was thinking that those comments applied to them while they were with you Guess those additional comments make more sense now!

So just to be clear, anyone attending can come home and type up their impressions and say that they were shown this or that, but can not post pictures/videos? Will they, for example, be able to tell us how ammo acquisition, sharing and tracking is done in CM:BN or will you all be telling them, 'Hey, dont tell anyone you saw this'?

So is there going to be a video stream of somekind? Is that allowed by the testers?

Are the beta testers allowed to post here what they said at the previews? Kind of a post-preview preivew?

Just curious as I cant attend and am searching for a taste of all the preview goodness occuring this month!

Thanks in advance

Chad

Edit:

Went back and re-read the original NDA post and feel silly about ever creating this thread!

My question really boils down to this: Will there be any goodness for those of us who cant attend?

There. Was that so hard? Thats all I was trying to ask in the first place!

[gibsonm]

Gibsonm

Ha, to be honest, the first time I read that and then posted that, I was thinking that those comments applied to them while they were with you Guess those additional comments make more sense now!

So just to be clear, anyone attending can come home and type up their impressions and say that they were shown this or that, but can not post pictures/videos? Will they, for example, be able to tell us how ammo acquisition, sharing and tracking is done in CM:BN or will you all be telling them, 'Hey, dont tell anyone you saw this'?

The idea was to give some guidance without resorting to a lawyer drafting a 20 page document that worked in every country that every attendee had to sign.

If that’s too hard to understand then I’ll just tell everyone that comes to Sydney “don’t tell nobody nothing”.

So is there going to be a video stream of somekind? Is that allowed by the testers?

AGAIN CAN YOU PLEASE READ WHAT I WROTE?

Words like “trying“, “depends on the venue” and “no idea about available bandwidth“ should tell you that there may or may not be a video stream.

Are the beta testers allowed to post here what they said at the previews? Kind of a post-preview preivew?

Well they are bound by the specific multi page NDA that they did sign so I see no reason what they would be suddenly at liberty to post whatever they wanted.

Just curious as I cant attend and am searching for a taste of all the preview goodness occuring this month!

Thanks in advance

Chad

Well to be honest I’m now regretting that I suggested the idea of a preview to Steve or the possibility of the web cast.

You people just make doing something relatively simple on a voluntary basis a real PITA.

[vetacon]

gibsonm

Are you being paid by a competitor to scare off potential newcomers? I could scarcely imagine a more effective way of doing this than biting off the heads of anyone who asks a question or seeks clarification of some sort.

If reading the forum makes you so angry, why do you bother?

[Chad Harrison]

You people just make doing something relatively simple on a voluntary basis a real PITA.

Well, I get the point.

Just to be clear, the thread was not aimed at you Gibsonm. It was an open question regarding all previews - you just happened to be the only one who mentioned the NDA and so it was your thread that I quoted. I already apologized for not getting the full picture the first time I read through the NDA and edited both my posts above to reflect that point. I think you read way, way, way too much into my questions to BFC and all those giving previews.

I appreciate the time you took to answer my question, and your service as a tester, but I think that with everyone jumping on BFC's and the testers cases recently, and after this thread I will just go back to the shadows and lurk.

Chad

[gibsonm]

gibsonm

Are you being paid by a competitor to scare off potential newcomers?

Well as BTS / BFC doesn’t pay me at least I’d be getting something then, but no.

I could scarcely imagine a more effective way of doing this than biting off the heads of anyone who asks a question or seeks clarification of some sort.

Well that maybe and you are certainly entitled to your opinion, just like I’m not bound by it.

However, When something that I thought would be of benefit becomes a burden then the shine does go off it.

The two options were:

1. Set out a legal binding document that was valid in every place where the Internet reaches, getting everyone to read, sign and return it (like we did with the Beta Tester NDAs).

or

2. Give some general guidance.

So just like crossing the street. I can either give you a 100 page book and hope you read it or tell you to “look before you step off the curb” and hope you apply some common sense.

If reading the forum makes you so angry, why do you bother?

By and large it doesn’t.

However the question was directed to me (or at least I took it that way so I answered it).

The frustration (“anger“ is too harsh a word) arises when I have had to say the same thing three or more time times (twice in the original post and twice more here).

One could of course ask if my post makes you so angry why do you bother to respond - but that’s probably a moot point.

[gibsonm]

Well, I get the point.

Just to be clear, the thread was not aimed at you Gibsonm. It was an open question regarding all previews - you just happened to be the only one who mentioned the NDA and so it was your thread that I quoted. I already apologized for not getting the full picture the first time I read through the NDA and edited both my posts above to reflect that point. I think you read way, way, way too much into my questions to BFC and all those giving previews.

I appreciate the time you took to answer my question, and your service as a tester, but I think that with everyone jumping on BFC's and the testers cases recently, and after this thread I will just go back to the shadows and lurk.

Chad

Chad,

Sorry if you took it the wrong way (obviously at least one other did too).

However multiple years of dealing with people here has taught me that you need to:

I think you read way, way, way too much into my questions to BFC ...

Because if you don’t make things absolutely clear people make a whole bunch of assumptions on their part and then complain when:

Their assumptions -> false expectations -> lack of satisfaction which apparently is all BFCs fault (even if someone who isn't employed by BFC was the source of the alleged ambiguity).

So I find it better to ensure people are clear to begin with (even if they are disappointed when the answer doesn't match their hope).

Its also a given that 90%+ of the people here have high expectations for the product and when it comes out they wont say thank you, they'll just say "the volume only goes up to 10, where's 11"?

Anyway back on topic.

The RSVP cut off for the Sydney preview is now closed and the numbers indicate that I can run it from home (although the wife is not happy that my first day off off since 01 Dec will be spent doing this).

So the location / bandwidth issue is fixed (I'm happy to "spend" my Internet allocation on this).

Whether its technically feasible is another issue.

Whether it will be only "live" or can be saved somewhere and hosted for $0 is another issue.

IF I find positive answers to all these I'll send you a PM and post a link on the Sydney Preview thread.