Virtual Pet Site Tester?

[Nate]

Hi all,

The mainstream staff-roles on a virtual pet site are:

- Artists
- Writers
- Moderators
- and Admins

On the previous 2 pet sites I developed/owned, I usually had the various other staff members (artists, mods etc) testing new features and functionality when they were available. 

Now, my main day-job is that I lead a team of Testers, and our entire job is to test/break/quality control all developments my company does, so i know how important "real" testing is.

So, I was wondering is "QA Tester" a valid role that has the potential to be filled in the VPS world? Since my project is taking full steam, I'm considering that it would be really helpful to have someone that works with me to try and "break" my new developments to ensure there are no glitches and that it works as expected.

Furthermore, historically the only staff members that have been paid real money is Artists. Do you think this is a role that would be acceptable to pay onsite currency, or do you think they would need to be paid using real money?

Thoughts?

[Aminirus]

I've seen and heard other sites asking for testers, beta testers, and they do it in various ways. Some will do the online currency and others will do real money. Usually, I think, with the real money, being a tester also comes with having an account better than a normal member's free account. So they sorta have like a premium passage to test and see sneak previews of and up coming things related the to the game before the general public does. 

Otherwise, if its for in-game currency and items, it can done numerous of ways, from offering currency to offering rare items for staying on a for a long time. 

Guess it just depends on what you can offer and what you feel is most valuable to give for the tester's time.

[Nate]

Thanks for the info @Aminirus

I'm thinking that I may hire someone initially with an agreement for onsite currency, and perhaps offer real money in the future if the game starts to make an income