Tutorial status and Closed Alpha Test - your opinion required

Haha, totally forgot about Southern hemisphere.

:) That's ok! It's hard to see us from where you are ;)

It's not really much of a matter of who to let in, as there doesn't seem to be a particularly large number of accounts registered now. I'm sure there will be many more accounts, but you could, I assume, easily let in most of the people registered as of now.

On a different note, it's not necessarily the "experienced testers" whose opinions matter most. Those who haven't done an alpha or beta test before are probably less used to what non-polished games look like, and would be able to provide feedback from a different point of view. It's kind of like having both professional food critics and the general public eating at a new restaurant - it's the public's opinion that matters, as they're the ones that will be paying for the food.

The marketplace, is that going to be a singular place where players can buy and sell their farmed/dropped items to each other without having to interact with the individual players 1 on 1? Like the Bazaar in Wizard101 or Pirate101? Will you have regular vendors set up in each area that you can buy and sell standard in game items that don't involve other players at all? 

The marketplace will be for resources, not for items. You put your offer, like say you offer 100 food and want 50 lumber in exchange. Other people see all offers from all players sorted and can accept the best ones. However it's not like stock exchange, here the distance between players also matters, cause resource delivery is not instant, so you can play a local trader, not competing with moguls from another part of the game world.

I think that resources will discourage many people from playing. I remember one of the reasons that I liked the originals was that there were no resources; resources would have restricted the gameplay too much. The lack of resources really helped set the first totem tribe apart from other "building" games - it was part of the innovative gameplay which made the game so much fun.

That's a good point for people to comment on. I wonder what people who read this think about adding resources to the TT2? Is it good/bad/indifferent and why?

It would make the game less challenging and boring if there are no resources. Also having resources might attract more players, fans of games like Age of empires. Having the RPG element will attract fans of games like Diablo, etc.

I will be happy with a few minutes,  to taste a little from it.

that will motivate to donate more.

I am so excited at the prospect of this game coming out. 

I am curious though - is the alpha testing only for the players who wish to interact with others? 

This thread is a little old now but replying in case it helps.

A couple thoughts

On the Alpha testing I would be clear on what you're trying to learn and let that guide you to the right amount of functionality.  If you're interested in the understanding the usability of the UI or how the interaction between players work, or how the resource system functions, how well the game scales, general bug finging etc... then make sure you have the functionality in place to do that.  Look for things that you can't easily do on your own or simulate and target those areas.  What can a hundred random people help you accomplish more easily than on your own?  

As to the hundred (pick a number) people, I would echo what several have said make it clear that these folks are essentially an extension of the development effort.  While they might be "playing", their primary purpose is to help you get the game to the next stage and eventually ready for prime time, the primary purpose is not entertainment like the final game will be.  That should keep people focused and not disappointed.

As to the resources question you asked in about the middle of this thread.  I am worried by this and other aspects that you'll be leaving behind your core fan base from TT/Gold.   With the original there was always a sense of progress, maybe slow at times and requiring a peak at the internet, but it was always forward progress, and the ability to move along at your own pace made the game delightful.  Adding features from other mainstream studios like resources, timed missions, no single player mode, always having to be aware, if not wary, that others are in the game with you, adds stress and while these features may very well gain you new players, I wonder if you'll alienate your fans and followers from the first one.  

As you make decisions about resources, missions, player interaction I would personally like to see these be positive interactions and keep that sense of progress and delight.  If I go on vacation in the real world and find that I have somehow gone backwards when I get back to the game that would be really frustrating.

I hope these thoughts helped, keep up the great work.

Sounds great, part of the FUD (fear uncertainty and doubt) for me comes from past games but TT and I assume TT2 is so different from other games it's probably not fair to worry too much about this until I experience the final product.  I can't wait to play.

I can hardly wait for this game to finally come out. I think that when all is said and done, it is going to be THE GAME OF THE CENTURY, and it will be hard for others to follow suit.

Hey Bers :)

Full tutorial and sandbox sounds excellent for an alpha test, seen alot of games go up for early alpha testing with less than that. This should give the testers the ability to give the core mechanics a working over for bugs and play style adjustments. Will alpha testers get their own section on forum that is locked to only them like the mods section on gunrox forum ? ( btw did u check my suggestions there lol ) Early player involvement in games is becoming a lot more common with Steams greenlight scheme and kickstarter funded games so more people now know what to expect from alphas. Will alpha testers be ok to make videos for youtube to help bring more people to the game or do Enkord want to keep some control over content that is allowed to be shown to the public?

There will be at least one closed section for bug reports. I don't think early alpha is time to post videos, but a bit later I think videos will be allowed and encouraged.

Ok np i was just thinking of something like Total Biscuits Alpha strike series which gives sneak previews into alpha builds he has access to. Maybe i could put one together and have it viewed by you first before i posted it online. Even if u dont use it, it will be fun for me to make anyway :)

Hi,

New to the forum and haven't had a lot of time to devote to this game development yet.

As a big fan of TT And TTG, I have to say that for me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of the games were the lack of deep thinking (i.e. resources, etc.) and absence of any timers or time-sensitive missions.

I am a middle-aged woman (a demographic with lots of disposable income for games, BTW - just ask the Big Fish people!)  I play computer games for two reasons 1) to relax and 2) to have fun. I don't like "challenges" in my games; life has given me enough challenges over the decades. I don't like to have to think too hard in most of my games - puzzles, yes, math and calculations, no. If I want to do math and calculations I can do that on a job and get paid for it. Resource accumulation and management are skills useful in life. Not usually fun, just useful. Again, fine if it's my job and I'm getting paid to do it, but not fun in a game.

I know there are lots of younger people out there who want those challenges (I have a couple of nephews who would love a game with those sorts of features) and maybe those are the people this game is for. I don't know how much TT2 will actually be for me. It's possible that this project may not actually work, because you guys are trying to make it everything for everybody, and generally when something is made to be everything for everybody it ends up pleasing nobody.

I wish you all the luck in the world and will keep following your progress.