Beta test playbook?


General Discussion


Alright, so I am really excited for Starfinder and am curious as to if there will be a Beta test playbook for it to see if my group can try it out. I am planning on saving up to buy core rulebooks for all of my gaming buddies if they are able to be pre-ordered when it comes time to start, but I want to see if my friends will like it with a beta test book...

If it is possible, is there a possibility of this happening to see what people think? I personally am excited for it.


They have said that there will not be any open play-testing. There has been some talk of a closed play-test but no word yet on when that will be or how one gets invited.

Liberty's Edge

This still seems odd to me.
Paizo really established the trend of the soft cover playtest book, that FFG and WotC ran with. Given how much work is still to be done and how little time is left before the books need to be printed (8 month or so...) a beta playtest would make sense. Give people more than a month to test the entire game.

Release a softcover with just the major content needed to play and pair it with the AP, so people can jump right in and play that. Mass playtest via the AP. Get the feedback from the six or months of that, and use it to fine tune the final product for a 2018 relase.


They have 13 months until Starfinder is released... Making some wild assumptions (because those are the best kind!) that they need to have... hmm... four months from sending out to print to having stock available? That gives them nine months to tweak and peak at their work. From the rumors we have, they have not yet settled on much of the details, having just recently decided what the core classes will be and possibly having not fleshed out the alpha mechanics for those classes. From what i gather out of the first two interviews there is still work being done to decide how much to modify existing systems... and Gen Con is only a month away. So, lets assume there wont even be a playable version of Starfinder until Octoberish? That is, a version of the game completed enough to try playing as a whole instead of piecemeal systems. That would leave 5-6 months of development from having something that could be Beta'd to needing to send off to the printers. That seems like a very short period to send out any kind of open test, pull in results and shift through the data for items to work on, let alone polish up those items and send out for further testing. A controlled closed Beta period will allow a lot faster turn around i bet. At least, in my mind, that is the reasoning behind it. It is a very tight timeline as is and an open Beta would flood them with feedback of which a lot would probably be redundant or off point from what they want to produce.


Someone on the SF team said they'd be posting details on the playtest in September.


hey, i was pretty close for wild speculation!

Liberty's Edge

Torbyne wrote:
They have 13 months until Starfinder is released... Making some wild assumptions (because those are the best kind!) that they need to have... hmm... four months from sending out to print to having stock available? That gives them nine months to tweak and peak at their work. From the rumors we have, they have not yet settled on much of the details, having just recently decided what the core classes will be and possibly having not fleshed out the alpha mechanics for those classes. From what i gather out of the first two interviews there is still work being done to decide how much to modify existing systems... and Gen Con is only a month away. So, lets assume there wont even be a playable version of Starfinder until Octoberish? That is, a version of the game completed enough to try playing as a whole instead of piecemeal systems. That would leave 5-6 months of development from having something that could be Beta'd to needing to send off to the printers. That seems like a very short period to send out any kind of open test, pull in results and shift through the data for items to work on, let alone polish up those items and send out for further testing. A controlled closed Beta period will allow a lot faster turn around i bet. At least, in my mind, that is the reasoning behind it. It is a very tight timeline as is and an open Beta would flood them with feedback of which a lot would probably be redundant or off point from what they want to produce.

Crunch time is generally the end of April to beginning of May IIRC. Given the book is longer and will eat up more time in layout and editing, that suggests early April for finalizing the text.

So 9 months to write the book.
If they get the playtest started in early Sept, that's 7 months of testing. Playing every other week for 14 totally sessions. Assuming one level every other session (to test each class' features fully), they can test roughly 7 levels or just over 1/3rd of the game. Assuming there's only four classes...

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

Jester David wrote:

Crunch time is generally the end of April to beginning of May IIRC. Given the book is longer and will eat up more time in layout and editing, that suggests early April for finalizing the text.

So 9 months to write the book.
If they get the playtest started in early Sept, that's 7 months of testing. Playing every other week for 14 totally sessions. Assuming one level every other session (to test each class' features fully), they can test roughly 7 levels or just over 1/3rd of the game. Assuming there's only four classes...

I would presume the internal playtesting is much more intense than one session every other week - I would figure on 3-5 sessions a week, per group, possibly with 3 or so groups. That gives them about 336 total sessions in your 7 month window, or enough to run 48 sessions for each of the seven classes. Remember this is a full-time job for these people.

The Exchange

ryric wrote:
Jester David wrote:

Crunch time is generally the end of April to beginning of May IIRC. Given the book is longer and will eat up more time in layout and editing, that suggests early April for finalizing the text.

So 9 months to write the book.
If they get the playtest started in early Sept, that's 7 months of testing. Playing every other week for 14 totally sessions. Assuming one level every other session (to test each class' features fully), they can test roughly 7 levels or just over 1/3rd of the game. Assuming there's only four classes...
I would presume the internal playtesting is much more intense than one session every other week - I would figure on 3-5 sessions a week, per group, possibly with 3 or so groups. That gives them about 336 total sessions in your 7 month window, or enough to run 48 sessions for each of the seven classes. Remember this is a full-time job for these people.

I'd like that job!

Community & Digital Content Director

Removed a baiting post and reply to it.


I'd like that job, as well! it would be so fun to help out with beta testing this game. I mean, it's always a good idea to get input from the community about how the game plays and how the skills work.

BUT, it IS up to the writer's and such that are on the Paizo staff. :)

The Exchange

Chris Grant 157 wrote:

I'd like that job, as well! it would be so fun to help out with beta testing this game. I mean, it's always a good idea to get input from the community about how the game plays and how the skills work.

BUT, it IS up to the writer's and such that are on the Paizo staff. :)

WHY!

(dramatic music in the background as I softly cradle the Beta playbook that never was.)
WHY!! (Crying starts)
How could you do this to me, Paizo!
(Paizo)
We couldn't risk it. The Beta had to be a closed Beta
(Me)
NOOOOOOOOOO!
I will now revert to: 5e
(Paizo)
You musn't! It's too dangerous!
(Me)
It's better than killing my best friend that could've been! (I spit with malice and storm out of the room to the 5e road. A musty, dirty, filthy road compared to Paizo's relative tidiness.)
Here, we must part ways, Paizo. I (sniffle) wish (sniffle, sniffle) you all the best! Goodbye, my friend that was once dear to me!
(Paizo)
Farewell!

The Exchange

Theliah Strongarm wrote:
Chris Grant 157 wrote:

I'd like that job, as well! it would be so fun to help out with beta testing this game. I mean, it's always a good idea to get input from the community about how the game plays and how the skills work.

BUT, it IS up to the writer's and such that are on the Paizo staff. :)

WHY!

(dramatic music in the background as I softly cradle the Beta playbook that never was.)
WHY!! (Crying starts)
How could you do this to me, Paizo!
(Paizo)
We couldn't risk it. The Beta had to be a closed Beta
(Me)
NOOOOOOOOOO!
I will now revert to: 5e
(Paizo)
You musn't! It's too dangerous!
(Me)
It's better than killing my best friend that could've been! (I spit with malice and storm out of the room to the 5e road. A musty, dirty, filthy road compared to Paizo's relative tidiness.)
Here, we must part ways, Paizo. I (sniffle) wish (sniffle, sniffle) you all the best! Goodbye, my friend that was once dear to me!
(Paizo)
Farewell!

Sorry, had to do that.

Dark Archive

One of the reasons Owen gave for not doing an open rules test is sifting through the board postings is a second and sometimes third full time job that keeps them from actually writing the rules/book. He also talked about the signal to noise ratio for good feedback.

I expect any play test to be sent to the freelancers and others they choose in chunks with specific criteria; IE, "Here are the starship rules. We want you to see how the combat section works or doesn't. Please list out these things... etc." and so on and so forth. This way they can get the feedback they need and go from there.


What they might do is put Starfinder onto Kickstarter, and say that whoever gives x amount of money gets access to the beta. That'd make sense to me.


No, they won't waste Kickstarter's time with such frivolity.

Liberty's Edge

I think they will focus on the people who understand what a NDA is ;-)


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The Raven Black wrote:
I think they will focus on the people who understand what a NDA is ;-)

NDA

New Drug Applications?

NDA

or is it

Notre Dame Academy

Notre Dame Academy Toledo

Or...maybe something more serious like the

Nuclear Decommiissioning Authority

NDA

Maybe something closer to home such as

Nevada Development Authority

Or perhaps something with historical significance...

National Defense Act

or maybe one wants something more cultured...

National Dance Association

Then again, we must realize that nothing really beats your health

National Dental Assocation

AS a Wolf, especially a Grey Wolf Lord, it's VERY important to keep up with your teeth, I'm certain this must be what they mean, as I feel they too would want their teeth in pristine condition!

Oh, I get it, this joke has probably gone on long enough at this point...so I'll get right to what it really means in the gaming context.

Afterall, this is a gaming site, and we must be quite serious about the games and rules...it really means

National Darts Association

Afterall, we take gaming very seriously, and it goes very well with beer.

Then again...there are a TON of different NDA's out there...in fact...here's a list...

List of NDA Acronyms because disclosing all of them would take a LOT of time to link and type out

That took longer to get all those links than I thought...sometimes a little non-disclosure goes a long way...but only if one can agree what NDA means in the first place!

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The only NDA that exists in the context of game design is a Non-Disclousure Agreement.


I would like to test it. by playing it.


Gayel Nord wrote:
I would like to test it. by playing it.

Hence the want for a beta.

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