Wanna beta test a game?

[Cyrus]

I've decided that the only way for my game Kingdom (original thread: http://www.lackeyccg.com/forum/index.php?topic=62.0, feel free to Bump it ) to move along is to start up a beta test. It was pretty dumb of me to try to do this is the middle of summer, so I figured hey, maybe winter will be better. I understand a lot of people are probably in school though, but don't worry, I understand time constraints better than most I think.

To be a Tier 1 Beta Tester I would expect, at least: One full game with me or another tier 1 tester a week, with leniency if some weeks don't work out for you. Whenever a game was played with me I'd want to discuss it a bit afterwords, card strengths, rules tweaking, etc. If two tier 1 testers play a game together they should each write up a short little report for me to look over about the same kinds of things. No need for a play by play unless you really feel like it. Lastly, I would expect your help in teaching tier 2 testers and possibly enlist some of you to help teach groups of people after the game's official release.

Tier 2 Beta Testers would basically be everyone else who's interested in playing an almost complete game. I wouldn't need reports after games (although you may feel free to send me one anyway), and you wouldn't be expected to play the game more often than you'd like to. It would be nice if some effort was put forth into playing the game, making decks, and rules discussion.

All testers would be expected to mingle with each other and discuss the game amongst yourselves in the forum. Obviously I can't force anyone to do this, but it would be nice if people posted deck lists and strategy ideas and generally talked about the game so I can gauge if its working right or not.

Rules changes during beta testing: I can commit to actively working on the rules and cards almost every single day, but during testing will try to release the most current version of the rules and cards every Monday night. Testers would be expected to always have the current version of the card images, as well as be up-to-date on the rules. The updates on Monday nights, however, will not just say "there's a new version, deal with it." I will instead try to be as detailed as possible, highlighting recent changes in both rules and cards.

Lastly; some optimism. While I am not a gaming or design genius, I can say with decent certainty that getting this game up to speed should not be that hard. I say this only because it has been in design for years. Literally hundreds of hours have already been spent on its design, since about 2001 or so. It's almost hit a 10 year anniversary and it's still in its infancy, mostly because of me becoming busy for one lame reason or another. Luckily this time around I have a job that allows me literally all the time in the world, and I need a time-sink anyway, so rather than install WoW, I'll get my game off the ground

[Wisp]

Pick me, pick me! Don't know if i can commit to tier 1 thought.

[Tokimo]

I'd like to sign up for Tier 1.5. I'll give you analysis of what I'm seeing but probably won't be available every week.

[Cyrus]

Awesome guys, glad to see some interest. There was a decent amount back about 6 months ago, might have to email some people haha. With my roomie on board that makes 4 of us so far, which would be plenty for a start. I'll work on getting the forums up by tonight. I'm not sure how to let people choose what Tier they sign up for when they sign up, so I'll probably just have to make a sub-forum where people can request upgrading to either of the tiers.
Also, the game-a-week isn't a requirement for either tiers really, it would just be nice if the tier 1s were spending a little more time on the game outside of actually playing it than other players. Such as devising decks, strategies, and trying to "break" certain cards (focus a deck around a single card in an attempt to see if it is the all powerful force that it might seem like... I've got a couple in mind, but I want to see if the community finds them).

[Cyrus]

Forum's Up!!!!!

http://kingdom.phpbb3now.com/index.php

Sign up and check out the Introduction and News/Updates threads.
See you there!