Dominion Strategy Forum

Dominion => Dominion Online at Shuffle iT => Dominion General Discussion => Goko Dominion Online => Topic started by: jsh357 on May 01, 2015, 09:39:15 am

Title: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jsh357 on May 01, 2015, 09:39:15 am
Announcement here, with some schedule info: http://forum.makingfun.com/showthread.php?6525-Dominion-2-0-Closed-beta-has-begun&p=33194#post33194
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Beyond Awesome on May 01, 2015, 10:20:34 am
Looking forward to this
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Witherweaver on May 01, 2015, 10:25:16 am
Do they have a formal signup for the wide-availability stage?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Mic Qsenoch on May 01, 2015, 10:26:18 am
Do they have a formal signup for the wide-availability stage?

As usual, one can send the checks directly to jsh.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SCSN on May 01, 2015, 10:47:49 am
Quote
The launch version is about 80% feature complete

I'm impressed, that's a tenfold improvement over the 1.0 edition.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: -Stef- on May 01, 2015, 10:55:18 am
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Witherweaver on May 01, 2015, 10:56:02 am
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)

Can you tell us anything about the closed beta?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jsh357 on May 01, 2015, 11:00:27 am
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)

Can you tell us anything about the closed beta?

We can tell you that we're part of it.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: -Stef- on May 01, 2015, 11:02:20 am
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)

Can you tell us anything about the closed beta?
Yes off course.

Fact 1: It's closed.
Fact 2: It's beta.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Witherweaver on May 01, 2015, 11:05:42 am
I'm afraid I believe none of this without screenshots.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Rubby on May 01, 2015, 11:31:55 am
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)

Can you tell us anything about the closed beta?
Yes off course.

Fact 1: It's closed.
Fact 2: It's beta.

Fact 3: Stef is part of it
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 01, 2015, 11:43:09 am
OK, well, it's 01 May and not April.  So likely not just an elaborate hoax.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Hugovj on May 01, 2015, 11:45:35 am
 :o
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DavidTheDavid on May 01, 2015, 12:47:35 pm
Ya, some of the folks here were contacted by the lead developer, Jeff aka LordHumanton. The closed beta will move to open beta, which is detailed in the post jsh linked in his original post.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: werothegreat on May 01, 2015, 12:52:34 pm
Ya, some of the folks here were contacted by the lead developer, Jeff aka LordHumanton. The closed beta will move to open beta, which is detailed in the post jsh linked in his original post.

How soon can we expect that?  I know it said "May", but as Kirian said, it's already May, so... are we talking a couple days?  A week?  Two weeks?  Memorial Day?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DavidTheDavid on May 01, 2015, 12:57:09 pm
Ya, some of the folks here were contacted by the lead developer, Jeff aka LordHumanton. The closed beta will move to open beta, which is detailed in the post jsh linked in his original post.

How soon can we expect that?  I know it said "May", but as Kirian said, it's already May, so... are we talking a couple days?  A week?  Two weeks?  Memorial Day?

The honest answer is, I don't know. I don't know how much flexibility they are putting into the schedule, but I'm sure they want some wiggle room.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pingpongsam on May 01, 2015, 04:05:26 pm
The linked statement reads pretty believably.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: theblankman on May 01, 2015, 05:01:13 pm
The linked statement reads pretty believably.
That's cause it's real, I'm in it too.  And I can tell you that it's closed.  And it's a beta.  And Stef is in it. 
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DG on May 01, 2015, 05:15:14 pm
I'm not in this closed beta so I'm going to make one request of the new beta testers. After Goko finished their beta they did eventually realize that they were not very professional in how they ran their beta tests. I'm assuming that Making Fun are a going to run a much better beta test, but if they don't can someone let them know sooner rather than later please. A lot of beta testers will be wasting their time if the feedback appears to go into a black hole, as it did with Goko.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: blueblimp on May 01, 2015, 06:14:17 pm
I'm not in this closed beta so I'm going to make one request of the new beta testers. After Goko finished their beta they did eventually realize that they were not very professional in how they ran their beta tests. I'm assuming that Making Fun are a going to run a much better beta test, but if they don't can someone let them know sooner rather than later please. A lot of beta testers will be wasting their time if the feedback appears to go into a black hole, as it did with Goko.
The most severe early problems got addressed, from what I remember. For example, at the start, shuffling was bugged (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=3948.0), the server didn't verify client actions (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=4095.0), and KC-KC-duration would replay the duration too many times (no link because it must have only been posted on the official beta forums). All of that got fixed by the time of the (first) launch, I think, although that launch was retracted anyway because of server problems. I think they just had no time to address any feedback that wasn't game-breaking and didn't have a quick fix.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jsh357 on May 01, 2015, 06:24:08 pm
Do they have a formal signup for the wide-availability stage?

As usual, one can send the checks directly to jsh.

There's no need to send checks.  Cards will do.  I also accept American Express.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DG on May 01, 2015, 06:46:59 pm
I'm not in this closed beta so I'm going to make one request of the new beta testers. After Goko finished their beta they did eventually realize that they were not very professional in how they ran their beta tests. I'm assuming that Making Fun are a going to run a much better beta test, but if they don't can someone let them know sooner rather than later please. A lot of beta testers will be wasting their time if the feedback appears to go into a black hole, as it did with Goko.
The most severe early problems got addressed, from what I remember. For example, at the start, shuffling was bugged (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=3948.0 (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=3948.0)), the server didn't verify client actions (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=4095.0 (http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=4095.0)), and KC-KC-duration would replay the duration too many times (no link because it must have only been posted on the official beta forums). All of that got fixed by the time of the (first) launch, I think, although that launch was retracted anyway because of server problems. I think they just had no time to address any feedback that wasn't game-breaking and didn't have a quick fix.

I'm not talking about bugs. I'm talking about the beta process itself.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: -Stef- on May 01, 2015, 07:53:21 pm
I'm not in this closed beta so I'm going to make one request of the new beta testers. After Goko finished their beta they did eventually realize that they were not very professional in how they ran their beta tests. I'm assuming that Making Fun are a going to run a much better beta test, but if they don't can someone let them know sooner rather than later please. A lot of beta testers will be wasting their time if the feedback appears to go into a black hole, as it did with Goko.

I think you have a good point and I will keep it in mind. I'll try to be a good beta-tester for a couple of weeks, and then evaluate what is actually done with my bug reports and recommendations.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SCSN on May 01, 2015, 08:17:51 pm
The one favor I'd like to ask of the Beta testers is to make sure they provide enough lobbies. On Goko you sometimes have to share them with multiple people!
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Mr.Oatmeal on May 01, 2015, 09:31:35 pm
Wonderful...  Now that Adventures is out, the elite formers will have something new to dangle over our heads and create new cryptic messages about.  I call that Bacon Cheeseburger is going to stand for the Kingsom Design feature.
 ;)
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: LastFootnote on May 01, 2015, 10:24:18 pm
Wonderful...  Now that Adventures is out, the elite formers will have something new to dangle over our heads and create new cryptic messages about.  I call that Bacon Cheeseburger is going to stand for the Kingsom Design feature.
 ;)

Dude, which part of this beta test do you think will be fun? It's going to be finding and reporting bugs.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Mr.Oatmeal on May 01, 2015, 10:32:02 pm
Wonderful...  Now that Adventures is out, the elite formers will have something new to dangle over our heads and create new cryptic messages about.  I call that Bacon Cheeseburger is going to stand for the Kingsom Design feature.
 ;)

Dude, which part of this beta test do you think will be fun? It's going to be finding and reporting bugs.

Fair enough.  Just interested in what's in store...
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Seprix on May 01, 2015, 10:36:36 pm
I'd join that.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: werothegreat on May 01, 2015, 11:16:36 pm
I'd join that.

I'm sure we'll be able to in a couple weeks.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Drab Emordnilap on May 02, 2015, 06:46:39 am
Pretty sure this must all be a hoax, because I didn't receive an invite.

:p
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: yed on May 03, 2015, 04:09:17 pm
Who else is beta tester? How many beta testers is there?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: EgorK on May 06, 2015, 04:33:12 am
The one favor I'd like to ask of the Beta testers is to make sure they provide enough lobbies. On Goko you sometimes have to share them with multiple people!

And I just hope that there would be one global lobby and then people can create private ones
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 06, 2015, 09:50:59 am
This showed up over at Pocket Tactics, where the original Dominion Online was their disappointment of the year... for 2012.  Hard to believe it's been that long.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pedroluchini on May 06, 2015, 09:54:32 am
This showed up over at Pocket Tactics, where the original Dominion Online was their disappointment of the year... for 2012.  Hard to believe it's been that long.

Why settle for Disappointment of the Year when you can be Disappointment of the Decade?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 06, 2015, 01:59:54 pm
This showed up over at Pocket Tactics, where the original Dominion Online was their disappointment of the year... for 2012.  Hard to believe it's been that long.
I've said it before, this stuff is hard.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Young Nick on May 06, 2015, 02:25:46 pm
Woah. Color me an optimist but this sounds promising. A better UI/UX would definitely get me playing Dominion more often than I currently do.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Beyond Awesome on May 06, 2015, 03:06:25 pm
This showed up over at Pocket Tactics, where the original Dominion Online was their disappointment of the year... for 2012.  Hard to believe it's been that long.

Why settle for Disappointment of the Year when you can be Disappointment of the Decade?

I won't go that far if mf manages to deliver. I sure wonder what things look like on the end of the beta testers
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: werothegreat on May 08, 2015, 05:16:03 pm
I've been invited to the beta, and that's all I can say.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pacovf on May 08, 2015, 05:36:38 pm
I haven't been invited to the beta. I will answer all questions.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Awaclus on May 08, 2015, 05:38:46 pm
I haven't been invited to the beta. I will answer all questions.

What is the meaning of life?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pacovf on May 08, 2015, 05:49:30 pm
That one is easy. It's the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: A Drowned Kernel on May 08, 2015, 06:12:46 pm
That one is easy. It's the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

Do viruses count?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pacovf on May 08, 2015, 06:19:38 pm
The last condition clearly excludes viruses, so no.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Awaclus on May 08, 2015, 06:25:57 pm
That one is easy. It's the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death.

You were supposed to make the Moat joke.  :(
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: qmech on May 08, 2015, 06:32:39 pm
Nobody is supposed to make the Moat joke.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: HiveMindEmulator on May 08, 2015, 06:49:44 pm
I just agreed to say nothing about the closed beta beyond the fact that I'm part of it.
So here I am saying absolutely nothing except that I'm part of it :)

Can you tell us anything about the closed beta?
Yes off course.

Fact 1: It's closed.
Fact 2: It's beta.

This looks like a violation of NDA.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Witherweaver on May 08, 2015, 06:53:02 pm
I haven't been invited to the beta. I will answer all questions.

Why didn't I get invited?  Should I question my choices in life?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: A Drowned Kernel on May 08, 2015, 06:56:10 pm
Is this question rhetorical?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: pacovf on May 08, 2015, 07:01:20 pm
Why didn't I get invited?  Should I question my choices in life?

Because of your avatar, and yes.

Is this question rhetorical?

No.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jamfamsam on May 08, 2015, 09:10:47 pm
I can neither confirm nor deny that I am part of the beta tests.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: enfynet on May 08, 2015, 09:59:48 pm
I've been invited to the beta, and that's all I can say.
So now you're better than us? Is that it?

(You can stream without saying anything... No one will ever know.)
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Seprix on May 08, 2015, 10:00:59 pm
Man, I'd like to be a part of this beta.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Sidsel on May 09, 2015, 06:04:56 am
This beta be good..
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 09, 2015, 09:17:16 am
Why beta?

So we go through three phases:  alpha, beta, release.  It would make a lot more sense as a countdown: beta, then alpha, then release.  You could then even give names to earlier development stages ("Our game's in theta right now." "So... you don't even have a concept?").
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 11, 2015, 03:23:09 pm
Man, I'd like to be a part of this beta.
So you're saying you'd like to be mo beta?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DavidTheDavid on May 13, 2015, 09:05:00 pm
The closed beta folks who've been active have provided some fantastic feedback. This forum has some pretty awesome players who also have a lot of insight into the history of the online builds of this game and what makes for good play. I know once open beta starts and more of you can pile on, it will be really fruitful. So yeah, hats off to such a strong community here.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: liopoil on May 13, 2015, 09:24:17 pm
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(

But seriously, that's great to hear.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: DavidTheDavid on May 13, 2015, 09:30:14 pm
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(

But seriously, that's great to hear.
Ya, I don't know what kind of "return rate" was expected on the invites, but we went through two rounds of invites. If LordHumanton needs more, he'll probably reach out again. But open beta shouldn't be too far off, and then it's a free for all. :D
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Emeric on May 21, 2015, 01:46:43 am
No more news about the closed beta, the open beta, the june opening service on the 2.0 ?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Polk5440 on May 21, 2015, 11:56:41 am
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(

Yeah, that is a little infuriating, actually. I did the beta for Goko Dominion, and would have liked to do this one, too. I am still hoping to participate in the open beta.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jsh357 on May 21, 2015, 12:23:42 pm
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(

Yeah, that is a little infuriating, actually. I did the beta for Goko Dominion, and would have liked to do this one, too. I am still hoping to participate in the open beta.

They are getting/have gotten feedback, rest assured.  I can't speak for every single tester, of course.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Deadlock39 on May 21, 2015, 01:25:03 pm
I'm sure if they weren't getting enough activity from those involved they would extend more invitations.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 21, 2015, 09:22:05 pm
Man, you must really be an optimist of the highest order.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Awaclus on May 21, 2015, 09:39:28 pm
I'm sure if they weren't getting enough activity from those involved they would extend more invitations.

If the testers aren't complaining, the product must be good already.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Drab Emordnilap on May 22, 2015, 02:42:55 am
Please let's remember that Making Fun is not Goko -- the sins of your brother be not the sins of yourself.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 22, 2015, 12:00:06 pm
I'm sure if they weren't getting enough activity from those involved they would extend more invitations.

If the testers aren't complaining, the product must be good already.

Or the product has killed every tester so far.  50/50 shot or so.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: werothegreat on May 22, 2015, 12:13:28 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 22, 2015, 03:36:29 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: werothegreat on May 22, 2015, 03:51:41 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.

Ugh, to the public, not to the developers.  Although I also can't say how talkative we've been to them either.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: yed on May 22, 2015, 05:15:50 pm
There must be a lot of issues, otherwise they would probably already opened the beta...
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 22, 2015, 07:12:24 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.

Ugh, to the public, not to the developers.  Although I also can't say how talkative we've been to them either.

When Hearthstone was in closed beta, people were live-streaming it.  NDAs are so far from the new normal as to be suspicious, except in cases where IP is involved, and all of the IP of Dominion is already out there.  If it's not good enough to let us hear about it, it's better to not announce the existence of a beta test.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: sudgy on May 23, 2015, 12:59:52 am
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.

Okay, you saying "recent memory" made me think you were making a joke about how he said "bear in mind", like, there's a bear in your mind, and, uh...

I'll go now...
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Throwaway_bicycling on May 24, 2015, 06:26:49 pm
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(


I am certain they won't go to a final release without the crucial improvements to the "opponent topdecks a card with Watchtower" animation where your expertise is of the utmost importance.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jaketheyak on May 24, 2015, 07:41:56 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.

Ugh, to the public, not to the developers.  Although I also can't say how talkative we've been to them either.

When Hearthstone was in closed beta, people were live-streaming it.  NDAs are so far from the new normal as to be suspicious, except in cases where IP is involved, and all of the IP of Dominion is already out there.  If it's not good enough to let us hear about it, it's better to not announce the existence of a beta test.

Really? Blizzard is the yard-stick?
Man, I got an invitation to Blizzard's most recent closed beta on the basis of my Hearthstone account, which has only a few hours total playing time.
And I got beta keys to give to four friends.
Which is to say that a Blizzard closed beta is about as close to a public beta as you can get.

There are all sorts of reasons for an NDA, beyond protecting IP.
The main one I can think of is that you don't want beta testers complaining about issues with the game that won't make it into the final version, giving potential customers the wrong impression.
Like if they start saying "they've still got the stupid lobby system" we might start to think that MF haven't listened to our feedback on that issue, when in fact a replacement matchmaking system is due to be rolled out tomorrow.

We're all keen to hear how awesome the new version is, which is precisely why the beta testers shouldn't be talking about it until it actually is sufficiently awesome.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 25, 2015, 08:06:13 am
We're all keen to hear see how awesome the new version is, which is precisely why the beta testers shouldn't be talking about it until it actually is sufficiently awesome because seeing is believing.
FTFY
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Seprix on May 25, 2015, 10:54:27 am
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(


I am certain they won't go to a final release without the crucial improvements to the "opponent topdecks a card with Watchtower" animation where your expertise is of the utmost importance.

So you're saying once a Goko, always a Goko?
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: liopoil on May 25, 2015, 10:57:21 am
The closed beta folks who've been active
...So some of the closed beta folks haven't been active and so are stealing precious spots from us who didn't get one?  >:(


I am certain they won't go to a final release without the crucial improvements to the "opponent topdecks a card with Watchtower" animation where your expertise is of the utmost importance.
I would like it if they made the opponent press 'done revealing reactions' whenever they have a reaction in their deck, even if it isn't in hand, so that you can't tell if they have watchtower in hand or not. But actually that might be more annoying than useful.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Kirian on May 25, 2015, 01:00:00 pm
Bear in mind that the testers can't say anything, whether it be praising or complaining.

Which makes it one of the strangest closed betas in recent memory.

Ugh, to the public, not to the developers.  Although I also can't say how talkative we've been to them either.

When Hearthstone was in closed beta, people were live-streaming it.  NDAs are so far from the new normal as to be suspicious, except in cases where IP is involved, and all of the IP of Dominion is already out there.  If it's not good enough to let us hear about it, it's better to not announce the existence of a beta test.

Really? Blizzard is the yard-stick?

No, because--ignoring, for the moment, console-focused publishers--PC-game and online game publishers are having somewhat open alpha phases, and many are even allowing buy-in during the "closed" beta.  Making Fun is much closer in scale to, say, Kerbal Space Program or Prismata than to Blizzard.

Quote
We're all keen to hear how awesome the new version is, which is precisely why the beta testers shouldn't be talking about it until it actually is sufficiently awesome.

Though SFS's reply to this above is also correct, my point earlier was that they should not have made the existence of the beta public until it was sufficiently awesome for the beta testers to actually discuss it.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: SwitchedFromStarcraft on May 25, 2015, 01:06:10 pm
Making Fun is much closer in scale to, say, Kerbal Space Program or Prismata than to Blizzard.
Which is why it has been so hard for them to deal with log-in issues, server capacities etc.  Serving 400 players at a time has got to be more difficult and more resource intensive than serving 1,000,000 players at a time, right? Cause there are no economies of scale.  ;)
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: jaketheyak on May 25, 2015, 09:01:30 pm
No, because--ignoring, for the moment, console-focused publishers--PC-game and online game publishers are having somewhat open alpha phases, and many are even allowing buy-in during the "closed" beta.  Making Fun is much closer in scale to, say, Kerbal Space Program or Prismata than to Blizzard.

But it's not even about scale. Those games are using a fully open public alpha/beta model as a way to launch new games.
It's more to do with marketing than testing.

MF are running a closed beta to test a new version of a currently available game.
It would run completely counter to their marketing aims to make an unpolished version widely available.

Quote
Though SFS's reply to this above is also correct, my point earlier was that they should not have made the existence of the beta public until it was sufficiently awesome for the beta testers to actually discuss it.

I can't really get behind the concept that no info is better than some info.
I agree that it's frustrating that we don't know more, but I'm still happy that we know that the project has at least progressed as far as it has.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Lord Humanton on May 28, 2015, 08:51:41 pm
Hi,

The reason for the beta test is to get testing and bug reports/feedback. The reason for it being private is it's not ready for being public. You know, still alpha, feature-incomplete, in-progress. It doesn't help anybody to have mountains of forums discussing how much features X and Y suck when we know X and Y are only half done. It's actually a big distraction from development. Better to get a bit further first. This is also Donald's view, and most likely, you probably first read the Adventures cards when he previewed them after the game was manufactured.

That said... we are trying out this crazy idea of getting testers involved in the process as soon as it is possible. Right now there are a limited number of slots, because processing all the feedback takes time away from development also. If you are interested in joining the closed beta test, you promise to keep it secret, you have an email+password login on your account (not Facebook/Google+/Twitter for right now), you're playing on Windows, MacOS, or Linux, and you'd find it interesting to play on a feature-incomplete system, please message me this info: your name, your email, your Dominion Online login (if different from your email), your Making Fun forum name (create one if you don't have it), and what OS you are on. I'll add the first 25 complete replies.

Or you could just wait, because in a couple weeks we'll open up the beta for everybody to test. :-)

Right now we are only testing Windows, MacOS, and Linux native builds. We'll start focusing on finalizing the web builds in mid-June and then move on to finalizing builds for tablets.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Seprix on May 28, 2015, 09:03:04 pm
Hi,

The reason for the beta test is to get testing and bug reports/feedback. The reason for it being private is it's not ready for being public. You know, still alpha, feature-incomplete, in-progress. It doesn't help anybody to have mountains of forums discussing how much features X and Y suck when we know X and Y are only half done. It's actually a big distraction from development. Better to get a bit further first. This is also Donald's view, and most likely, you probably first read the Adventures cards when he previewed them after the game was manufactured.

That said... we are trying out this crazy idea of getting testers involved in the process as soon as it is possible. Right now there are a limited number of slots, because processing all the feedback takes time away from development also. If you are interested in joining the closed beta test, you promise to keep it secret, you have an email+password login on your account (not Facebook/Google+/Twitter for right now), you're playing on Windows, MacOS, or Linux, and you'd find it interesting to play on a feature-incomplete system, please message me this info: your name, your email, your Dominion Online login (if different from your email), your Making Fun forum name (create one if you don't have it), and what OS you are on. I'll add the first 25 complete replies.

Or you could just wait, because in a couple weeks we'll open up the beta for everybody to test. :-)

Right now we are only testing Windows, MacOS, and Linux native builds. We'll start focusing on finalizing the web builds in mid-June and then move on to finalizing builds for tablets.

Yo, I'm all down on this. Take your time, a delayed good product is better than a shoddy one on time.
Title: Re: 2.0 Closed Beta Begins
Post by: Lord Humanton on May 29, 2015, 02:27:21 am
If you are interested in joining the closed beta test...
I'll accept people and email them details on Monday.

Or you could just wait, because in a couple weeks we'll open up the beta for everybody to test. :-)
I've posted a summary of our roadmap here:
http://forum.makingfun.com/showthread.php?6715-Version-2-Coming&p=34309#post34309