When a niche game has bugs...

[ufm]

So the development system here approaches the rich functionality of GitHub, supports developer APIs, etc.? I really don't know.

I didn't say BGA development platform is that advanced, but said the actual development platform is separated from main BGA site.

[cigma]

The system says there are nearly 400 players in that group but there are only 16 games running and less than half a dozen users actually reporting bugs.

Alpha testers are neither a dedicated nor a paid group.

As I am not an alpha tester, I wonder if alpha tester who do write bug reports are appreciated and rewarded by BGA. And if not, why so.

I like to help this site by translating and do get gift points for that, which I appreciate. Also I occasionally write some bug reports on beta games. I know some programming myself, so I really try to nail down the bug (as describing the exact conditions when and when not this problem occurs and sometimes guessing about possible connections). I find it is rather challenging and time consuming to do such a report. And this is why I'm not an alpha tester

In my opinion alpha tester who report bugs help this site to develop at least as much as people who help with translations. So what about giving gift points for bug reports on alpha games?

Furthermore there could be ways to make reporting more easily (and not only for alpha games) like Tisaac has written "maybe a specific banner could be added during the game with a direct link to a prefilled bug report with table number." I love that idea! Any more suggestions on this?

[ufm]

I agree. It needs an incentive.
Awarding gift points for finding real bugs or suggesting helpful ideas sounds good (no point for bogus reports, or even moderation if too frequent).

[Romain672]

Awarding gift points for finding real bugs or suggesting helpful ideas sounds good (no point for bogus reports, or even moderation if too frequent).

X: "I will report that bug"
Y: "Too late, I did it first."

[ufm]

Awarding gift points for finding real bugs or suggesting helpful ideas sounds good (no point for bogus reports, or even moderation if too frequent).

X: "I will report that bug"
Y: "Too late, I did it first."

Finders, keepers

[Blango]

The system says there are nearly 400 players in that group but there are only 16 games running and less than half a dozen users actually reporting bugs.

Alpha testers are neither a dedicated nor a paid group.

...

Furthermore there could be ways to make reporting more easily (and not only for alpha games) like Tisaac has written "maybe a specific banner could be added during the game with a direct link to a prefilled bug report with table number." I love that idea! Any more suggestions on this?

I am relatively new to the site. When I have gone to report bugs it appears they are just completely lost in a morass of other reports. Are there hints to the best way to report a bug in a game. For example, I have some in Innovation and Tapestry (Alpha).

[cigma]

When I have gone to report bugs it appears they are just completely lost in a morass of other reports.

I think it is up to the developer to check and prioritize which errors to remove (first). But all players can vote for the bugs they want to have solved first by giving a green thumb to them on the bug reporting site. However, I don‘t know if bug reports for alpha games are treated differently.

But also consider that if your bug report is lost in a morass of reports it is rather likely that the developer is lost in the morass of reports!

[Romain672]

Just wanna point out, I reported like 20/50 bugs for a specific game which were lost in all the bugs.
Then I stopped playing the game and slowly the dev has resolved most of the bugs.
So even if you think your bug is lost, it can still be useful.