Playtest Update and Reminders
Hello everyone,
I’ll start by saying thank you. The amount of time and dedication you’ve spent reading, critiquing, and playing Red Markets is one of the most encouraging things to happen in my short game design career. I’m so grateful for everyone that’s taken the time to write up their sessions on the forums. It’s really great to see, and witnessing how you guys are interacting in-character online has given me a dozen more ideas for future products and features.
We are entering November, meaning there is little over a month left in the beta. I’m already compiling playtest reports and my own notes into a master change log. Here’s a reminder of the plan:
• Get all the playtests in by the Dec. 20th deadline
• Use Christmas break and (hopefully) snow days to do a massive revision of the rules text
• Run a second playtest campaign with the RPPR crew in late Winter/Spring to test the post-Beta revisions. Revise the book as I go and plan the Kickstarter campaign.
• Ross posts the first playtest campaign as we start playing the second, hopefully building up some hype.
• Kickstarter launches in early Summer, sometime after school lets out and man the comments section full time.
• If the book doesn’t fund: cry forever.
• If it does fund: do a jig. Perhaps even a “Carlton.”
• After my jig, distribute Beta 2 to backers.
• Complete the setting stuff, edit, layout, art, etc.
But all of this hinges upon you – the noble playtesters – turning in the playtest reports. I’ve noticed more participation in the game than I’ve received feedback…by a much larger margin than expected. I understand some of this is inevitable, and many of you are merely waiting to get more games under your belt in order to make an informed decision, but we are quickly approaching the point at which I need those reports back.
The audio is priceless, and listening to you guys play my game every day on the ride to work has deeply informed my revision plans already. But whenever possible, I still need as many detailed playtest surveys as I can get. The audio is great for in-depth analysis, but Red Markets is a big book in need of big changes. In short, I need breadth as well as depth, and while I can drop a hundred playtest reports on my office floor and collate revisions all at once, I can’t listen to a dozen AP’s simultaneously.
So as we enter the final month, that’s what I wanted to say. Thank you to everyone that’s reported in so far. For everyone else, thank you and PLEASE email in November if you have not reported in yet. I need all of you if I’m going to help make the game better.
My address is stokes353@gmail.com.
Happy taking,
Caleb
