Tribes 2 Meta Test

Dynamix today provided more details about the recently-announced "meta" test of Tribes 2. As has been widely reported on Tribes-related Web sites, the purpose of the meta test is to make final refinements and exercise gameplay for the upcoming release.

Dave "Qix" Georgeson, producer of Tribes 2, revealed some of the more unusual aspects of the meta test, like where the name came from. "We needed to do a focused, final test of the system," said Qix, "so we chose a location that was central to a lot of our beta testers, and a single location that we could bring them all to, so we could have more control over the testing environment."

This location ended up being the small town of Meta, Arkansas, population 249. Located in the middle of the state, less than an hour from the capital, and serviced by newly-laid fiber optic broadband connectivity, the isolated town was the perfect choice for an intensive on-site workout of the nearly completed game.

"Them there geeks are a weird bunch, but they sure spend a lot of money at the general store for beer and Cheez Whiz," said Jeff-Bob Hawkins, mayor and postmaster for the rural town. "Now we'll be able to afford to get our police car fixed."

Some of the Meta testers were not so enthusiastic. "Man, this place blows," fumed J33p3rz, one of the participants. "There's only like three babes here, and they already have boyfriends. How can we be expected to concentrate on testing under these conditions?"