Kehleyr has announced that the Palantir Preview Program is now accepting applications. For those who may not know what the Palantir Program is, it is a closed program where selected volunteer players test new content for the game before it goes into Beta (if it even gets that far).
The Palantir Private Preview Program is a testing program similar to a Beta Program but much smaller in scope. While Beta Programs are generally organized to test large Expansion Packs, participants in the Palantir Program test everything in between, such as the quarterly updates.
This program allows for players to place their input on features, test dungeons, submit bugs, mold character changes, and provide their opinions on many other aspects of the game in order to assist Turbine in making decisions about upcoming content to LOTRO.
So what are the requirements for the Program?
Requirements of the Palantir Private Preview Program
- Must have a valid VIP or Premium subscription in good standing to The Lord of the Rings Online
- Must be at least 18 years of age
- Must be able to interact with the community in a mature and constructive manner
- Must be able to communicate well through forum posts and bug reports
- Must have a strong command of written English
- You must accept the terms of the Private Preview Program Non-Disclosure Agreement, the full contents of which will be provided during the registration process should you be accepted to the program
As you can see most of these requirements are pretty standard. Although some players who are not native-English speakers might be intimidated, I would highly suggest that you apply anyway; especially since most of the people who write us apologizing for their English actually have great command of the language.
Previous members of the program will also find that they will need to reapply to the program and that there are some new rules to the program.
What’s New This Time Around?
We’ve decided to try a new approach to membership.
First, we are introducing Premium players as eligible to apply to the program! However, as this is going to open up our qualifying pool of applicants significantly while we, the team, is remaining rather small, we need to limit the number of people we can have in the program at any given time.
Which leads us to the second point: In order to allow a fair chance to as many people as possible without overwhelming our team, we are limiting membership to 6 month stints. If you’re accepted to the program you can remain a member for 6 months and then your membership will be retired. After that you must wait another 6 months before applying again.
At first the sixth-month-in and sixth-month-out change seems like a long time. However, I think that this is a good way for Turbine to rotate people in and out of the program. This way players who may have stopped participating can be weaned out instead of taking up a slot that an active participant could take. Plus, if it doesn’t work out well this requirement can always be adjusted. So if you’re interested in applying you can do so here. Good luck!
October 23, 2012 at 2:31 pm
Given the news that Palantir was shut down for the Rohan Beta, I am concerned that they’re not allowing existing members to reapply until April 2013. I’m concerned that 1 month of getting to know each other and play as a group will not be enough time to adequately test the new instances. The November 1 suggests a start time for the first round of accepted applications.
I wonder how players who were a part of former and ended NDA Turbine programs feel about this change.
October 23, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Waiting til April ’13 still allows the Pal veterans to be in the next expansion testing while allowing new folk to test and break the update.
Taking a break of 6 months is a good idea.
October 23, 2012 at 11:53 pm
Someone on the forum suggested the rotating 6 months for Premiums and no specified time limit for VIPs, and that sounds like a better idea.
I’m actually hoping they re-evaluate whether or not everyone has to rotate out at the 6month mark. Keep players on they thought were especially productive. Otherwise it sounds like it may become pretty easy to rotate in and out, you don’t even need a full application for re-admittance.
I’d be much less concerned if the instances had been tested, but the magnitude of some of the stuff that slipped through the Beta when it comes to stability doesn’t leave me too encouraged right now.
October 24, 2012 at 7:55 am
I think that leaving VIP as is still doesn’t address the point Merric makes on ‘weaning out’ those who get burnt out of testing, or just become less/non active participants for other reasons. It’s a natural part of the process. And bringing fresh eyes to the testing may help pick up things those long timers may just miss.
Those who really do enjoy the opportunity will most likely opt back in after their 6 month break so they should not lose too many veterans.
Keeping especially productive testers seems a good idea but the management and effort to identify them over time may prohibit the option.
One thing from reading the article; I I know it’s mentioned a couple of times in the quotes but the other big change (besides 6 monthly rotations) is the inclusion of ‘Premium’ level members and perhaps someone making a brief scan of the page may miss that point.
Thanks as usual for great and regular posts.
October 24, 2012 at 11:24 am
I bet they have thought this through & are hoping to get out of the changes some great improvements in areas they feel may be lacking.
Perhaps if they just had “re-application” every 6 months for everyone (w/o a 6 month breather) it may allow “QA/QC” to keep the people who are really contributing & allow those who may be an asset the possibility of getting thier chance to participate.
It “may” be considered more “fair” for everyone concerned.
Just my uninformed opinionate opinion.
Wyllo
October 25, 2012 at 11:56 am
I prefer Wyllo’s suggestion of reapplying every 6 months so they can keep on those who have been productive and proven to be an asset and then ween out those who haven’t, or who have not bothered to reapply. Having a full new team every 6 months seems like an odd choice and a bit of a gamble when you already have a pick of players that have proven themselves.