The Day I Got Paid for Playing Bejeweled® 2
Some days, my job is amazing. Some days my job is hilarious. Some days, like last Thursday, it's both.
So we are working on this project with a company who sells games online, games like Bejeweled and Cake Mania and Diner Dash and Ashley Jones: The Heart of Egypt and Dream Day Wedding Viva Las Vegas. You can either download a trial version of these games (which are good for an hour) or purchase the full version (which never expires).
We were trying to validate exactly what the user experience was after downloading the trial version, so my co-worker and I were at my desk and decided to download Bejeweled® 2 so that we could test some stuff out. Specifically we wanted to test what happened if you clicked through to purchase to buy after the 60 minute trial period was up. So I downloaded the trial, and then had some meetings. This was perfect, because by the time I got back from my meetings, the trial period should have expired and I could test.
When I returned, I opened up the game and the timer at the top said: "You have 57 minutes remaining." What!? Oh my my, it's an hour of play time, not clock time. So I seriously had to sit there and play Bejeweled® 2 for a while, until I realized I could just keep it open and running while I was gone, let the time run out, and come back and do my test later.
The next day, I heard my co-worker on a conference call about the validation test, which I hadn't completed. I jumped on the call and told everyone I would quickly do my validation and jump back on the line. When I opened the game back up, it told me I still had 5 minutes of play left! So I had to keep 6 people waiting for me on the conference bridge so I could play a few more levels of Bejeweled® 2. It was the most ridiculous thing ever, and I think it made it into the project manager's status notes that I made it to Gemwasher level during validation.
So we are working on this project with a company who sells games online, games like Bejeweled and Cake Mania and Diner Dash and Ashley Jones: The Heart of Egypt and Dream Day Wedding Viva Las Vegas. You can either download a trial version of these games (which are good for an hour) or purchase the full version (which never expires).
We were trying to validate exactly what the user experience was after downloading the trial version, so my co-worker and I were at my desk and decided to download Bejeweled® 2 so that we could test some stuff out. Specifically we wanted to test what happened if you clicked through to purchase to buy after the 60 minute trial period was up. So I downloaded the trial, and then had some meetings. This was perfect, because by the time I got back from my meetings, the trial period should have expired and I could test.
When I returned, I opened up the game and the timer at the top said: "You have 57 minutes remaining." What!? Oh my my, it's an hour of play time, not clock time. So I seriously had to sit there and play Bejeweled® 2 for a while, until I realized I could just keep it open and running while I was gone, let the time run out, and come back and do my test later.
The next day, I heard my co-worker on a conference call about the validation test, which I hadn't completed. I jumped on the call and told everyone I would quickly do my validation and jump back on the line. When I opened the game back up, it told me I still had 5 minutes of play left! So I had to keep 6 people waiting for me on the conference bridge so I could play a few more levels of Bejeweled® 2. It was the most ridiculous thing ever, and I think it made it into the project manager's status notes that I made it to Gemwasher level during validation.
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